REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE 

P>‘t:  v. ’ . : 0 /. 

OF  THE 

NATIONAL  BOARD  OF  TRADE 


CONTINUOUS  WATER  LINE 

OF  TRANSPORTATION 


THROUGH  VIRGINIA. 


RICHMOND  j 

GARY,  CLEMMITT  & JONES,  PRINTERS. 


-Ac?" 


o' 

o 

CO 


REPORT. 


To  the  National  Board  of  Trade 

of  the  United  States  of  America . 

During  the  annual  session  of  your  honorable  body,  which  was 
held  in  December  last  at  Cincinnati,  you  had  under  consideration 
the  following  resolutions,  presented  by  the  Louisville  Board  of 
Trade : 

1.  11  Resolved,  That  cheap  transportation  for  its  heavy  products  to  the  markets 
of  the  world,  is  not  only  a necessity  to  the  West,  but  equally  demanded  by  the 
best  interests  of  the  whole  country. 

2.  44 Resolved , That  the  most  feasible  plan  to  secure  this  end,  is  to  provide  a di- 
rect and  continuous  line  of  water  communication  between  the  Mississippi  river 
and  the  Atlantic  ocean,  in  a latitude  favorable  to  the  safe  carriage  of  grain  in 
bulk,  and  yet  comparatively  free  from  obstructions  by  frost;  that  such  a com- 
munication can  be  readily  secured,  by  the  Ohio,  Kanawha  and  James  rivers, 
through  Virginia  and  West  Virginia,  to  the  Atlantic  ocean  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Chesapeake  bay. 

3.  uResolved,  That  said  line  of  water  communication  is  a work  of  great  na- 
tional importance,  and  as  such  is  entitled  to  receive  such  aid  from  the  general 
government  as  will  secure  its  completion  at  the  earliest  possible  period. 

4 “Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Council  are  hereby  appointed  a committee 
to  memorialize  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
on  behalf  of  this  body,  and  ask  them  to  take  the  subject  of  said  water  line  com- 
munication into  favorable  consideration  at  an  early  day,  and  to  grant  such  aid 
as  may  be  necessary  to  secure  its  early  completion.” 

Whilst  these  resolutions  were  pending,  at  quite  a late  period  of 
your  session,  when  but  a short  time  was  left  for  the  transaction  of 
business,  the  following  resolutions  were  submitted  on  behalf  of 
the  Louisville  Board  of  Trade,  and  were  adopted : 

44  The  subject  of  the  resolutions  submitted  by  the  Board  of  Trade 
of  Louisville,  and  now  under  consideration,  is  one  of  great  impor- 
tance, and  has  been  but  recently  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
majority  of  this  body,  and  should  be  fully  examined  and  maturely 
considered  before  final  action : Therefore, 


'pn  fc  o 


4 


11  Resolved , That  the  whole  subject  be  referred  to  a committee  of  fifteen,  with 
instructions  to  fully  examine  the  same,  and  report  to  the  Board  at  its  next 
meeting. 

“ Resolved , That  the  report  of  this  committee  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Secretary  forty  days  previous  to  the  next  annual  meeting,  that  he  may  transmit 
copies  of  the  same  to  the  constituent  bodies.” 


In  pursuance  of  this  resolution  the  following  committee  was  ap- 
pointed on  this  subject: 


Mr.  Porter,  of  Louisville, 

Mr.  Stanard,  of  St.  Louis, 

Mr.  Burwell,  of  New  Orleans, 
Mr.  Topp,  of  Memphis, 

Mr.  Brown,  of  Portland, 

Mr.  Converse,  of  Boston, 

Mr.  Hincken,  of  New  York. 
Mr.  Monroe  of  Dubuque, 


Mr.  Munn,  of  Chicago, 

Mr.  Taylor,  of  St.  Paul, 

Mr.  Gano,  of  Cincinnati, 

Mr.  Wetherill,  of  Philadelphia. 
Mr.  Parr,  of  Baltimore, 

Mr.  Hughes,  of  Norfolk, 

Mr.  Carrington,  of  Bichmond. 


Before  leaving  Cincinnati  your  committee  held  a meeting,  and 
after  taking  measures  for  drafting  a report  on  the  subject  submit- 
ted for  their  consideration,  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  White  Sul- 
phur Springs  on  the  15th  of  August  following.  Pursuant  to  such 
adjournment  your  committee  met  at  the  time  and  place  aforesaid, 
and  having  duly  examined  the  subject  of  your  resolutions,  beg 
leave  to  submit  the  following 

REPORT. 


THE  FIRST  RESOLUTION. 


1.  Nothing  could  be  more  true  than  the  declaration  of  the  first 
of  the  series  of  resolutions  which  j^our  honorable  body  has  sub- 
mitted for  our  consideration — “that  cheap  transportation  for  its 
heavy  products  to  the  markets  of  the  world  is  not  only  a necessity 
to  the  West,  but  equally  demanded  by  the  best  interests  of  the 
whole  country.” 

Transportation  to  Market  the  great  need  of  the  West 

The  problem  now  'most  seriously  engrossing  the  attention  of 
commercial  men  at  the  North,  at  the  East,  and  throughout  the 
West,  is  that  of  cheaper  intercommunication  between  the  great 
interior  region  of  our  continent  and  the  seaboard.  The  necessity 
for  its  solution  is  becoming  more  and  more  urgeut  every  day.  The 
railroads  are  overburdened  with  freight,  and  are  inadequate  to  its 
transportation,  at  rates  which  draw  it  forth  from  remote  parts  of 
the  interior. 

The  question  of  cheaper  transportation  is  only  another  form  of 
the  question  of  adequate  means  of  transportation — for  the  mo- 


5 


ment  that  freight  prices  are  so  reduced  as  to  permit  produce  to  go 
to  market,  from  where  it  is  grown  in  the  fertile  West  at  a profit  to 
the  producer,  immediately  such  a volume  of  it  is  mobilized  as  to 
overtax  the  capacity  of  the  avenues  of  transportation.  The  pro- 
blem of  cheap  carriage  is  therefore  no  other  than  that  of  adequate 
means  of  transportation. 

The  productions  of  the  interior  are  magnifying  every  year. 
They  grow  in  aggregate  more  rapidly  than  the  means  of  transmit- 
ting them  to  market  can  be  multipled.  Western  production  is 
constantly  pressing  unduly  upon  the  means  of  transportation.  The 
multiplication  of  railroads  in  the  interior  is  more  rapid  than  that  of 
railroads  connecting  the  interior  with  the  seaboard.  The  effect  of  . 
the  extended  railroad  and  navigation  systems  of  the  West  is  to  sti- 
mulate production  more  rapidly  than  existing  lines  of  transporta- 
tion can  be  augmented  in  capacity.  Insufficiency  in  the  means  of 
outlet  produces  high  freight  charges,  and  the  remark  of  all  emi- 
nent writers  on  political  economy  is  true,  that  impassable  mountain 
chains  interpose  no  greater  barriers  to  trade  than  high  prices  of 
freights. 

Extent  of  this  Inland  Transportation  System  of  the  West. 

The  stimulating  causes  now  in  operation  to  augment  the  produc- 
tion of  the  West  are  very  powerful  in  their  influence: 

1.  The  natural  increase  of  population,  augmented  by  the  im- 
mense immigration  from  foreign  countries  and  from  the  Atlantic 

, States,  is  peopling  the  interior  regions  of  the  continent  with  a ra- 
pidity unexampled  in  the  history  of  the  human  race;  and  the  pro- 
duction of  the  country  is  increasing  in  the  same  unprecedented 
ratio. 

2.  The  railroad  system  of  the  Mississippi  and  Lake  Valleys  has 
grown  to  an  aggregate  of  17,622  miles  in  length.  This  system  is 
acting  as  a powerful  stimulant  to  the  production  of  that  prolific  re- 
gion in  every  part  of  it. 

3.  The  inland  navigation  of  the  West  is  of  immense  expansion. 
Official  reports  give  the  aggregate  length  of  steamboat  navigation 
on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  at  16,674  miles.  The  fiat  boat 
and  batteaux  navigation  of  the  headwaters  and  branches  of  these 
great  streams  increases  this  navigation  by  more  than  ten  thousand 
miles;  and  in  the  course  of  a short  time  slack  water  and  canal  im- 
provements will  swell  the  grand  total  of  western  inland  navigation 
to  at  least  fifty  thousand  miles.  It  will  ultimately  be  considerably 
more  if  the  European  principle  should  obtain  in  this  country,  that 
every  stream  19  feet  wide  and  18  inches  deep  may  be  rendered 
navigable. 

River  navigation  has  assumed  new  importance  of  late  by  the  in- 
auguration of  a cheaper  and  more  efficient  system  of  water  trans- 
portation. On  the  western  rivers  they  have  instituted  the  system 
of  steam  tugs  and  barges  on  a large  scale.  The  effect  is  virtually 


6 


to  convert  the  river  channels  into  railroads,  the  steam  tugs  being 
locomotives,  and  the  barges  being  freight  cars.  Incorporated 
companies  of  large  capital  own  the  tugs  and  barges,  and  run  them 
upon  time  schedules,  just  as  railroad  companies  run  their  trains — 
the  trains  picking  up  barges  as  they  pass  different  wharves  and 
leaving  others.  The  expense  is  but  a fraction  of  railroad  transpor- 
tation, and  the  river  channels  are  prized  as  nature’s  substitute  for 
long  railroad  tracks.  As  there  are  nearly  17,000  miles  of  steam- 
boat navigation  on  the  western  rivers,  the  effect  is  virtually  to  add 
17,000  miles  of  railroad  track  to  the  transportation  business  of  the 
W est. 

Thus  the  total  length  of  our  main  lines  of  transportation  in  the 
*W  est,  on  which  steam  is  the  motor,  has  reached  34,000  miles. 

The  area  of  country  embracing  this  vast  system  of  railways  and 
of  navigation  is  nearly  twTo  millions  of  square  miles;  and  when 
population  reaches  an  average  of  fifty  persons  to  the  square  mile, 
will  contain  one  hundred  millions  of  people  whose  leading  indus- 
try will  be  agriculture. 

The  stimulus  imparted  to  production  by  the  railway  and  naviga- 
tion systems  wrhich  have  been  mentioned,  seconded  by  the  unex- 
ampled growth  of  population  there  going  on,  is  producing  an  im- 
mense development  of  export  products.  In  1860  there  were 
eighteen  millions  of  tons  of  produce  to  spare  from  the  West,  not 
one-half  of  which  went  off.  It  failed  to  go  off  either  from  the 
non-existence  of  sufficient  means  of  transportation,  or  by  reason  of 
the  prohibitory  cost  of  freightage  over  great  distances.  What  the 
amount  of  produce  now  is  which  could  be  spared  for  outside 
markets  from  the  interior,  cannot  be  stated  with  authentic  accu- 
racy, and  the  statistics  of  the  forthcoming  census  must  be  awaited. 
But  it  would  be  an  under  statement  to  say  that  it  has  reached 
twenty-five  millions  of  tons.  On  the  other  hand  it  would  be  an 
exaggeration  to  estimate  that  twelve  and  a half  millions  of  these 
tons  now  go  out  to  market  over  all  the  existing  avenues  of  transit. 

The  existing  deficiency  in  the  facilities  of  transportation  in- 
creases as  the  centre  of  production  recedes  westward.  A few  years 
ago  this  centre  was  in  Ohio.  It  has  steadily  retrograded  through 
the  states  of  Indiana  and  Illinois.  It  has  now  crossed  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  is  still  moving  westward.  The  centre  of  demand  at  the 
West  for  the  necessary  supplies  from  the  East,  including  machi- 
nery, other  manufactures  and  merchandise,  salt,  iron  and  coal,  is 
receding  with  equal  step  into  the  far  interior,  to  a still  greater  dis- 
tance from  the  source  of  supply;  so  that,  while  the  demand  for 
intercommunication  is  constantly  increasing,  the  continually  widen- 
ing distance  between  the  places  of  production  and  of  consumption 
is  adding  to  the  expense  of  communication. 

Already  very  many  of  the  products  of  the  West,  wanted  at  the 
East,  will  not  bear  transportation.  Even  in  the  state  of  Illinois, 
corn,  the  staff  of  life — needed  at  the  East  to  fill  hungry  mouths — 
has  been  burned  for  fuel,  on  the  score  of  economy;  and  in  Dubuque, 


7 


on  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  within  the  last  five  years, 
corn  in  the  cob  has  been  burned  for  domestic  purposes  as  cheaper 
than  other  fuel,  the  ruling  price  of  wood  being  $10  per  cord,  and 
of  anthracite  coal  $20  per  ton. 

The  area  of  country  in  the  West  which  can  be  served  by  the 
Erie  canal  is  continually  decreasing;  for,  as  the  country  bordering 
on  the  lakes  becomes  settled  up,  the  breadth  of  land  under  culti- 
vation increases,  and  the  produce  from  this  increased  cultivation, 
being  nearer  to  the  lakes,  cuts  off  that  from  the  far  West  by 
monopolizing  the  canal. 

To  show  the  inadequacy  of  the  present  means  of  outlet  for  trans- 
mitting such  a volume  of  produce  as  would  be  spared  for  market, 
we  may  estimate  the  maximum  theoretic  capacity  of  the  Erie  ca- 
nal for  through  produce  at  seven  millions  of  tons ; we  may  esti- 
mate the  utmost  capacity  of  all  the  railroads  now  leading  across 
the  Alleghanies  at  eight  millions  of  tons,  for  through  freights.  It 
would  be  safe,  to  estimate  the  amount  of  western  produce  which 
now  goes  out  by  the  channels  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  lower 
Mississippi,  at  four  millions  of  tons.  (The  capacity  of  the  lower 
outlets  of  the  Mississippi  and  of  the  St.  Lawrence  for  discharging 
produce,  is,  of  course,  not  measured  by  the  quantity  actually  going 
out,  but  rather  by  the  capacity  of  existing  appliances  for  its  ship- 
ment.) Thus,  the  utmost  theoretic  capacity  of  these  several  avenues 
of  outlet  does  not  exceed  19,000,000  of  tons.  The  quantity  of 
western  through  tonnage  actually  moving  over  them  is  but  little 
more  than  half  this  amount.  Yet  the  present  tonnage  which  could 
be  spared  by  the  West  and  which  could  be  forwarded  to  market, 
if  its  products  were  mobilized  by  cheap  carriage,  and  by  ample 
avenues  of  transportation,  would  be  twenty-five  millions  of  tons. 
(See  article  I,  Hunts’  Magazine  for  August,  1868.)  It  is  not  there- 
fore merely  a question,  whether  we  shall  add  new  railroads  to  those 
already  engaged  in  the  work,  or  whether  we  shall  merely  open 
new  canals,  or  whether  we  shall  merely  increase  the  appliances 
necessary  for  transmitting  produce  through  the  lower  Mississippi 
and  the  Gulf.  Resort  must  be  had  to  all  these  expedients,  and 
still  there  will  be  a grevious  deficiency  in  the  means  of  conducting 
the  vast  transportation. 

Western  Production  seeks  market  in  the  direction  of  the  Atlantic. 

Whether  this  huge  volume  of  produce  is  to  find  outlet  to  the 
markets  of  the  world  in  the  direction  of  the  Atlantic  or  of  the 
Pacific  ocean,  does  not  admit  of  doubt.  The  history  of  trade  from 
the  earliest  records  of  time,  furnishes  no  instance  of  a considerable 
movement  of  produce  designed  for  human  or  animal  food  towards 
countries  and  populations  adjacent  to  the  Pacific  ocean. 

The  Atlantic  is  a long  narrow  ocean,  easily  navigated  on  short 
voyages.  The  countries  on  either  side  of  it  are  inhabited  by  the 
powerful  Christian  nations  of  the  earth ; nearly  all  of  them  com- 


8 


mercial,  and  most  of  them  importers  of  grain.  It  is  opened  up  to 
Northern  Africa  and  to  Southern  Europe  by  the  Mediterranean 
sea,  and  to  Northern  and  Central  Europe  by  the  Baltic.  It  is 
opened  to  all  America  except  the  Narrow  Strip  west  of  the  Andes, 
the  Cordilleras,  and  the  Bocky  mountains,  by  our  gulfs  and  seas, 
our  bays  and  lakes,  and  by  our  great  rivers,  of  which  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  Amazon  are  scarcely  more  important  than  a dozen 
others.  Nearly  all  the  great  navigable  rivers  of  the  world  flow  in- 
to the  Atlantic  and  its  tributaries. 

Our  Western  grain  must  find  its  consumers  in  the  populations 
near  the  Atlantic,  and  its  markets  almost  exclusively  in  Atlantic 
ports.  (Great  Britain  alone  imports  annually  four  millions  of  tons 
of  grain.)  It  must  all  seek  exit  in  the  direction  of  the  Atlantic; 
its  natural  tendency  being  to  pursue  the  short  direct  route  due  east- 
ward, from  the  localities  of  production  to  the  seaboard.  There  is 
no  reason  for  believing  that  this  tendency  will  ever  be  reversed  or 
changed. 

The  East  and  West  alike  interested  in  the  question  of  Cheap  Transpor- 
tation. 

The  problem  of  providing  cheap  transit  to  the  seaboard  for  the 
whole  production  of  the  West  which  can  be  spared  for  market,  is 
not  of  first  importance  to  producers  alone.  The  entire  manufac- 
turing and  commercial  populations  of  the  eastern  states  are  inte- 
rested in  obtaining  food.  Unless  food  shall  be  furnished  at  the 
lowest  prices,  manufactures  must  gradually  decay  throughout  the 
eastern  and  middle  states,  and  either  perish  after  a lingering  exis- 
tence, or  migrate  to  other  sections  in  search  of  cheap  subsistence. 
The  interest  of  the  West  in  cheap  transportation  is  no  more  vital 
than  is  that  of  the  East  in  cheap  food.  Both  are  dependent  upon  the 
timely  and  liberal  provision  of  adequate  channels  of  transportation. 
Cheap  food  is  the  best  “ protection ” which  can  be  provided  our 
manufacturers  against  foreign  competition.  It  is  in  its  relation  to 
this  subject  that  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  seaboard  but 
reflects  the  prosperity  of  the  West.  Western  products  furnish 
the  basis  of  commercial  wealth,  and  cheap  food  is  essential  to  the 
prosperity  of  every  manufacturing  community.  Thus  every  great 
work  which  may  be  projected  for  cheapening  and  increasing  trans- 
portation between  the  West  and  East  is  national  in  character,  and 
merits  the  encouragement  of  the  national  government.  , 

THE  SECOND  RESOLUTION. 

A Central  Water-line  noio  an  exigent  necessity  of  the  West. 

II.  The  object  being  to  provide  means  for  transmitting  the  max- 
imum quantity  of  produce  at  a minimum  cost,  your  committee 
have  no  hesitation  in  recommending  the  opening  of  a canal  and 


9 


slackwater  line  of  continuous  navigation  across  the  territory  of 
Virginia,  from  the  Ohio  to  tidewater  on  the  James  river,  as  sug- 
gested by  the  second  resolution  submitted  by  your  honorable  body 
for  our  consideration.  Since  the  introduction  of  the  steam  tug 
and  barge  system  of  transportation  on  the  western  waters,  since 
the  practice  has  become  general  of  transporting  grain  in  bulk,  and 
since  the  application  of  stationary  and  movable  steam  elevators 
for  transferring  grain  from  one  vessel  to  another,  inland  water 
transportion — which  at  one  time  seemed  likely  to  be  wholly  super- 
seded by  that  of  railway — has  assumed  new  importance  in  the 
West,  and  has  been  made  much  cheaper  than  it  is  possible  for  rail- 
road transportation  to  be  rendered  over  long  distances. 

These  improvements  in  the  method  of  conducting  the  business 
ot  transportation  on  western  waters,  have  given  canals  a revived 
importance  and  awakened  a widely  pervading  interest  in  the  pro- 
position to  open  a continuous  line  of  direct  navigation  from  the 
Mississippi  river  to  Hampton  Eoads  through  the  territory  of  Vir- 
ginia. 


Your  committee  are  more  strongly  inclined  to  look  with  favor 
upon  this  enterprise  on  account  of  the 

Superior  capacity  of  Canals  for  carrying  quantities  of  freight. 

To  illustrate  this  truth  we  need  but  consider  some  of  the  special 
facts  of  transportation. 

The  boats  used  on  the  Erie  canal  carry  210  tons;  that  is  to  say, 
as  many  tons  as  a railroad  train  can  carry  of  twenty-six  freight 
cars,  each  bearing  eight  tons.  The  small  capital  invested  in  the 
canal  boat,  the  small  number  of  men  employed  to  man  it,  and  the 
small  cost  of  motive  power  used  in  drawing  it,  are  all  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  capital  necessary  to  be  invested  in  the  locomotives 
and  freight  cars,  in  the  purchase  of  fuel,  and  in  the  hires  of  men 
attending  the  freight  trains.  The  ratio  of  capital  required  in  the 
one  case  and  the  other  is  as  twenty  to  one.  The  canal,  moreover, 
is  a public  highway,  open  to  all.  The  railroad  is  necessarily  ope- 
rated by  a corporation  having  large  capital  and  all  the  attributes  of 
a monopoly.  In  general  the  outlay  of  capital  is  ten  times  as  great 
in  the  case  of  railroads  as  in  the  case  of  water  transportation. 
When,  therefore,  we  design  to  construct  an  additional  outlet  for 
the  trade  of  the  West,  truly  national  in  its  character,  in  being  open 
and  accessible  to  the  use  of  the  humble  as  well  as  the  great,  of  the 
poor  as  well  as  the  rich,  we  must  provide  a water  channel  rather 
than  a railroad.  In  a lecture  delivered  in  February  last,  before  the 
American  Institute,  by  Professor  Wm.  J.  McAlpiu,  the  following 
striking  comparison  is  made  of  the  capacity  of  canals  for  transpor- 
tation with  that  of  railroads,  and  of  the  actual  transportation  of 
the  Erie  canal  with  that  of  all  the  trunk  railroads  in  the  United 
States : 


2 


10 


“The  great  canals  executed  in  our  day  form  an  important  feature 
in  this  progress.  With  many  persons  there  is  an  idea  that  the 
railway  has  superseded  the  canal,  and  that  the  former  now  performs 
the  chief  part  of  the  traffic  of  the  country.  While  the  latter  is 
true  in  regard  to  interior  short  lines  of  trade,  it  is  a serious  error, 
in  reference  to  the  great  transport  between  the  agricultural  West 
and  the  Atlantic.  The  Erie  canal,  during  the  season  of  navigation 
conveys  more  of  this  traffic  than  all  of  the  railroads  together;  more 
than  all  of  the  trunk  lines  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Potomac. 
The  boats  which  come  to  tidewater  have  an  average  cargo  exceed- 
ing that  carried  by  the  longest  freight  train  on  the  Central  railway. 
During  the  busy  season  more  than  150  such  boats  arrive  daily,  and 
their  tonnage  would  require  more  than  150  freight  trains.  The 
greatest  number  is  but  thirty  per  day  on  the  Central  railway.  The 
Erie  canal,  therefore,  is  performing  more  than  five  times  as  much 
business  as  the  Central  railway.  Yet  the  slow  plodding  canal  boat 
attracts  no  attention,  though  burdened  with  more  tons  than  the 
bustling,  noisy,  whirling  freight  train,  which  creates  a sensation  in 
every  village  through  which  it  passes.  The  4,000  canal  boats  of  an 
aggregate  of  1,000,000  of  tonnage,  moving  5,000,000  tons  of  cargo 
per  annum,  exceeds  the  tonnage  of  the  vessels  engaged  in  the  fo- 
reign commerce  of  this  city  [Yew  York]  even  before  the  war.” 

Canals  are  used  by  the  Public — Railroads  only  by  their  Owners. 

Here  is  also  exhibited  one  of  the  many  reasons  why  canals  af- 
ford more  unlimited  capacity  for  the  transportation  of  freights  than 
railroads.  Whoever  may  be  able  to  command  a few  hundred  dol- 
lars of  capital  may  engage  in  the  business  of  a common  carrier  on 
the  canal;  whereas  that  business  on  railroads  is  virtually  confined 
to  the  single  corporations  owning  them.  If  we  are  to  have  addi- 
tional highways  for  the  cheap  transportation  of  heavy  produce  in 
great  quantities , we  must  open  at  least  another  canal  which  should 
be  at  the  service  of  all  common  carriers,  great  and  small. 

The  Erie  canal,  in  its  present  dimensions,  is  adapted  to  boats  car- 
rying 210  tons.  Its  capacity  is  now  theoretically  equal  to  the  dis- 
charge of  7,000,000  of  tons  of  produce  per  annum  way  and  through, 
it  actually  discharges  less.  It  practically  passes  as  much  tonnage 
during  the  year  as  three  of  the  most  efficient  and  best  appointed 
railroad  lines  of  the  world.  During  the  seven  mouths  when  it  is 
open,  it  discharges  as  much  tonnage  as  five  such  railroad  lines.  It 
carries  bulky  articles  of  commerce,  which  the  railroads  cannot  move 
with  profit,  and  it  carries  all  produce  cheaper  than  the  railroads. 
The  Hon.  Israel  T.  Hatch  of  Buffalo,  a high  authority  on  these 
subjects,  said  recently  in  an  address  to  a meeting  of  leading  mer- 
chants in  the  city  of  Yew  York: 

“The  average  cost  per  ton  from  Chicago  to  Yew  York  via  the 
lakes,  the  Erie  canal,  and  the  Hudson  river,  including  canal  tolls 
and  carriers  profits,  embracing  a period  of  ten  years,  is  $7  G6£.  The 


11 


cost  of  transportation  on  the  Central  railway,  as  given  in  annual 
reports,  taking  the  average  for  six  years,  is  one  cent  four  mills  and 
nine  tenths  of  a mill  per  mile,  not  including  carriers  profits.  This 
average  applied  to  the  distance  from  Chicago  to  New  York  by  rail, 
988  miles,  makes,  $14  31  per  ton,  or  $6  65  more  per  ton  than  the 
average  cost  for  a period  of  ten  pears  via  the  lakes,  the  Erie  canal 
and  the  Hudson  river,  including  state  tolls  and  profits  of  carriers. 
The  through  freight  moved  eastward  by  the  five  truuk  lines  and 
the  Erie  canal  is  about,  in  round  numbers,  5,500,000  tons,  which, 
if  multiplied  by  $6  65,  the  difference  before  mentioned,  would 
make  a difference  between  rail  and  water  transportation  of  all  car- 
ried by  either  method  of  $36,580,500  and  with  the  profits  of  the 
railway  companies  added  to  the  actual  cost,  would  augment  this 
amount  largely.” 

The  classes  of  freight  chiefly  carried  by  the  canals  are  the 
heavier  products  of  agriculture  and  those  of  the  forest  and  the 
mine.  The  E ew  York  canals  carried  in  1867,  of  the  products  of  the 
forest  1,232,968  tons,  valued  at  $11,167,969,  while  the  amount  of 
this  class  of  products  carried  by  all  the  railroads  of  the  state  in  the 
same  year  was  only  303,236  tons,  haviug  a value  of  only  $2,204,526. 
In  respect,  however,  to  articles  of  higher  value,  the  case  was  re- 
versed, the  railroads  of  the  state  having  carried  1,290,815  tons  of 
“animal  food,”  valued  at  $440,916,588,  while  the  canals  carried 
only  16,614  tons,  valued  at  $5,675,202.  Thus  railroads  and  canals 
supplement  each  other,  the  canals  relieving  the  railroads  of  cum- 
brous products  paying  low  freights,  while  the  railroads  carry  those 
articles  which  could  not  await  the  slow  transit  of  the  canals  and 
which  afford  high  charges  of  freight. 

Railroads  do  not  afford  cheap  transportation  for  great  distances. 
The  canal,  the  river,  the  lake,  are  the  channels  for  the  products  of 
the  farm,  forest  and  mine,  the  railroad  is  for  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers. 

It  may  be  conceded  that  canals  do  not  stimulate  the  production 
of  the  countries  which  they  penetrate  as  actively  as  railroads. 
But  when  once  a net  work  of  railways  is  constructed,  and  has  pro- 
duced that  vast  augmentation  of  production  which  in  fertile  re- 
gions invariably  results,  then  canals  become  indispensible  aids  to 
railroads  in  taking  off  to  distant  markets  the  increased  and  in- 
creasing production.  In  order,  therefore,  to  solve  the  problem  of 
cheap  transportation  and  adequate  means  of  outlet  for  western 
produce,  we  cannot  confine  ourselves  to  any  one  species  of  im- 
provement. We  must  have  a sufficiency  of  all  improvements,  and 
more  especially  of  canals,  as  they  have  greater  capacity  for  the 
transportation  of  quantities  of  freight  than  railroads,  and  can  carry 
heavy  produce  cheaper  over  great  distances. 

Canals  are  not  obsolete . 

That  canals  have  not  become  obsolete  is  proved  by  the  fact  that 


12 


in  France  there  are  in  profitable  operation  7,700  miles  of  canal  and 
slack  water  navigation ; and  that  in  Great  Britian  and  Ireland  there 
are  over  4,000  miles  of  similar  works  in  use  as  follows : 


Canals — England 

2,600  miles. 

“ Scotland 

225  “ 

“ Ireland 

275  “ 

Navigations 

900  “ 

4,000  “ 

In  France,  where  the  system  has  greater  extension  than  in  any 
other  country,  the  emperor,  not  content  with  mastering  the  Suez 
canal,  has  projected  a great  ship  channel  from  the  bay  of  Biscay  to 
the  Mediterranean,  the  cost  of  which  is  estimated  at  between  sev- 
enteen and  eighteen  millions  of  pounds,  and  the  time  necesary  for 
its  completion  six  years. 

The  argument  against  the  utility  of  canals,  and  the  trite  asser- 
tion that  they  have  become  obselete,  were  based  principally  on 
the  fact  that  in  the  United  States  some  canals  have  been  unsuccess- 
ful and  some  have  been  virtually  abandoned. 

The  great  success  of  canals  in  Great  Britian  created  a furor  for 
their  construction  in  this  country,  and  many  were  made  that  proved 
to  be  failures,  principally  because  the  zeal  that  projected  and  com- 
menced them  died  out  before  their  completion,  and  the  prosecution 
of  the  works  was  abandoned  before  they  had  arrived  half  way  to 
their  destination. 

Another  cause  of  their  want  of  success  was  that  many  of  them 
■were  made  of  such  small  dimensions  that  they  could  not  be  profit- 
ably navigated,  and  soon  filled  up,  so  that  they  could  not  be  navi- 
gated at  all.  But  these  failures  prove  nothing,  and  are  only  warn- 
ings against  the  folly  of  wasting  money  on  works  that  never  can, 
or  never  will,  be  completed,  and  agaiust  projecting  great  water 
communications  upon  such  mean  and  insufficient  plans  that  their 
very  littleness  will  insure  their  failure. 

The  partial  obscuration  of  canals  by  the  dazzling  success  of  rail- 
roads has  been  only  temporary,  and  so  far  from  public  opinion  be- 
ing against  canals,  it  is  now  settling  strongly  in  their  favor,  and 
their  utility  and  their  superiority  over  railroads  for  the  cheap  trans- 
portation of  heavy  tonnage  is  a growing  opinion,  and  the  necessity 
for  their  construction,  not  as  rivals  but  as  reliefs  to  railroads,  is 
more  and  more  generally  conceded.  This  is  manifested  by  the 
earnest  demand  at  the  North  for  the  further  enlargement  of  the 
Erie  canal  to  the  capacity  of  vessels  of  500  tons;  by  the  projection 
of  new  lines  of  water  communication  and  the  enlargement  of  old 
ones,  in  Canada,  where  $200,000,000  are  proposed  to  be  expended 
upon  such  works;  by  the  proposed  ship  canal  around  the  Falls  of 
Niagara;  the  enlargement  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal  to 
ship  dimensions;  the  proposed  ship  canal  from  Lake  Michigan  to 
Lake  Erie;  another  across  the  Isthmus  of  Florida,  to  shorten  the 
voyage  and  avoid  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  FloridaPass;  and 


13 


lastly  the  magnificent  scheme  of  connecting  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans  by  means  of  a ship  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  No 
less  than  nineteen  different  routes  have  been  proposed  for  a ship 
canal  across  the  American  Isthmus,  and  various  surveys  have  been 
made  by  governments  and  private  individuals,  and  the  interest  in 
this  interoceanic  connection  is  unabated.  Mr.  F.  W.  Kelly  of  New 
York  has  estimated  the  saving  in  money  to  the  trade  of  the  United 
States  that  would  result  from  the  use  of  the  Isthmus  canal,  at 
$36,000,000;  and  the  saving  to  the  trade  of  the  world  at  about 
$50,000,000,  annually;  while  the  cost  of  the  canal  has  been  esti- 
mated as  high  as  $325,000,000. 

In  comparison  with  this  gigantic  scheme,  the  Virginia  water 
line  only  dwindles  into  insignificance  so  far  as  the  cost  is  concerned; 
but  when  we  come  to  consider  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  it  in 
the  saving  of  money  to  the  trade  of  the  United  States,  it  will  be 
seen  that  at  one-eighth  the  expenditure  in  money  the  saving  will 
be  as  great. 

The  interest  in  canals  is  not  confined  to  the  United  States.  One 
of  the  leading  topics  of  the  world  at  this  time  is  the  successful 
completion  of  the  great  Suez  canal,  at  a cost  of  $80,000,000.  The 
French  emperor’s  plan  of  connecting  the  bay  of  Biscay  with  the 
Mediteranean,  in  order  to  save  the  circuit  of  the  passage  of  Gibral- 
tar, excites  great  interest  and  commands  favor.  The  canalling  of 
the  isthmus  of  Corinth  is  also  projected,  as  well  as  the  important 
project  of  connecting  the  Baltic  and  North  seas  by  a canal  across 
the  isthmus  of  Denmark. 

What  greater  evidence  could  there  be  of  the  public  estimation  of 
the  value  of  canals  than  the  projection  of  the  above  mentioned 
schemes,  especially  those  in  New  York  and  Canada,  where  the  pe- 
riod of  navigation  is  limited  to  seven  months  in  the  year?  What 
railroad  could  live  and  prosper  if  its  operations  had  to  be  suspended 
for  five  months  every  year  ? 

The  principal  concern  that  needs  he  felt  for  the  success  of  the 
Virginia  water  line  is,  that  the  full  benefit  to  be  derived  from  its 
unrivalled  position  and  advantages  may  not  be  attained  from  par- 
simony or  an  unwise  economy  in  the  scale  of  its  construction.  If 
made  at  all  let  it  be  made  on  a scale  commensurate  with  the  de- 
mands of  the  trade  of  the  great  West,  and  fully  up  to  the  greatest 
capacity  that  can  be  obtained  at  the  summit  level.  It  is  the  opinion 
of  the  engineer  of  the  company  that  a capacity  double  that  already 
assumed  in  his  plan  of  the  canal,  or  say  for  boats  of  500  tons,  could 
be  obtained  by  the  construction  of  reservoirs  on  the  Greenbrier  and 
its  tributaries. 

The  existence  of  Natural  Channels  has  never  been  held  an  argument 
against  the  construction  of  Artificial  ones. 

In  the  United  States  there  would  be  a blockade  of  western  trade 
if  the  Erie  canal  were  closed  for  a year.  It  is  idle  to  urge  in  oppo- 


14 


\ 


sition  to  the  project  of  cutting  a canal  straight  across  the  country 
from  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  to  those  of  the  Chesapeake,  that  the 
Mississippi  river  and  the  gulf  are  competent  to  bear  away  all  the 
produce  which  the  West  can  grow,  and  which  the  Erie  canal  and 
the  great  railroad  lines  across  the  Alleghany  summits  cannot  move. 
If  they  are  competent  to  the  task  they  do  not  actually  perform  it; 
simply  because  the  river  and  gulf  route  is  too  circuitous  to  be  pur- 
sued by  the  produce  of  a very  extensile  region  of  the  country  con- 
tributing its  trade;  and  the  northern  water  route  is  closed  by  ice  for 
five-twelfths  of  each  year. 

If,  in  1665,  an  engineer  of  the  Spanish  monarch,  sitting  on  the 
ramparts  of  Gibraltar,  had  ridiculed  the  attempt  of  Louis  the 
Great  to  transmit  trade  from  Toulouse  to  Marseilles  without 
having  to  pass  under  the  guns  of  that  fortress,  and  had  asked: 
“What  need  of  a canal  across  France,  while  these  straits  remain 
here,  capacious  enough  to  pass  the  commerce  of  all  the  world  at 
once?”  he  would  have  spoken  in  the  spirit  of  those  who  now  ob- 
ject to  the  Virginia  work.  But  the  canal  du  Midi , with  its  great 
reservoir  of  St.  Ferrol,  was  built,  and  it  still  exists,  one  of  the 
most  valuable  works  of  France,  and  one  of  the  proudest  monu- 
ments of  the  genius  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  the  advanced  enterprise  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  One  hundred  years  afterwards,  ignorant 
of  what  had  actually  been  done  for  a whole  century  in  France,  a 
very  “practical”  public  in  England,  ridiculed  the  project  of  the  Duke 
of  Bridgewater  to  make  an  artificial  navigation  from  Liverpool  to 
some  coal  mines  only  forty  miles  distant  through  a flat  country. 
But  the  Duke’s  name  now  stands  amongst  the  most  renowned  and 
most  revered  in  England,  and  the  practical  British  public  has 
since  attested  its  appreciation  of  the  works  he  inaugurated  by  con- 
structing three  thousand  miles  of  canals,  which  are  in  daily  use. 
And  yet,  one  hundred  years  since  the  triumph  of  the  Duke  of 
Bridgewater  over  all  ridicule  and  all  protestation,  and  two  centu- 
ries since  Louis  XIV.  proved  that  the  straits  of  Gibraltar  were  not 
sufficient  to  answer  all  the  purposes  of  French  navigation,  the  idea 
is  still  maintained  by  a few  that  the  Mississippi  afi'ordsthe  only  need- 
ful outlet  for  Western  trade.  But  distance  has  something  to  do 
with  the  operations  of  commerce,  and  a very  large  portion  of  the 
western  produce,  rather  than  travel  three  thousand  miles,  from  St. 
Louis  to  New  York,  by  way  of  the  Balize,  the  Gulf  and  the  long 
southern  coast — going  out  of  the  country,  in  order  to  get  through 
it — would  prefer  a short  trip  of  only  fifteen  hundred  miles  inland 
to  Xorfolk,  even  if,  in  the  passage  through  the  Virginia  canal,  it 
would  have  to  scale  seventeen  hundred  feet  of  elevation,  or  about 
half  a3  many  feet  in  lift  of  locks,  as  it  would  go  extra  miles  in  te- 
dious circuit  by  way  of  the  Balize,  Cuba  and  the  Bahamas. 

The  cheapest  transit  for  long  distances  is  furnished  alone  by 
water;  and  yet,  in  order  to  get  to  the  seaboard  at  present  by  water, 
western  produce  must  needs  go  either  by  the  lakes  or  by  the  gulf, 
must  go  beyond  the  boundary  of  the  Union  for  want  of  a direct 


15 


navigation  across  the  territory  of  the  Union.  This  is  a national 
shame,  a national  inconvenience,  a national  loss.  Another  canal  is 
needed  for  the  millions  of  tons  of  western  produce  which  is  now 
not  carried  to  market  at  all,  simply  because  the  rates  of  charge 
for  transit  are  not  cheap  enough  to  draw  it  out  from  the  far  in- 
terior. General  Washington  suggested  the  true  remedy  for  this 
now  great  and  growing  evil.  The  remedy  was  a line  of  unbroken 
navigation  across  the  territory  of  Virginia. 

Causes  which  have  impeded  the  opening  of  this  line. 

The  fact  that  this  route  of  navigation  has  not  been  opened  long 
ago,  especially  in  view  of  the  successful  experience  of  New  York 
with  the  Erie  canal,  furnishes  no  argument  against  the  present  ex- 
pediency of  the  enterprise.  The  delay  has  been  due  both  to  phy- 
sical and  financial  causes.  It  is  a fact  that  Virginia  formed  the 
determination  to  construct  a canal  across  the  mountains  in  her  ter- 
ritory, at  about  the  same  time  that  New  York  began  to  make  a 
canal  across  the  level  plateau  of  country  which  stretches  out  be- 
tween the  Hudson  and  Niagara  rivers.  The  task  of  New  York 
was  as  easy  as  that  of  Virginia  was  difficult.  The  surface  of  Lake 
Erie  is  only  five  hundred  and  sixty-four  feet  above  tidewater,  and, 
except  the  elevation  forming  its  eastern  shore,  is  higher  by  143 
feet  than  any  of  the  ground  between  the  lake  and  the  Hudson  river. 
Between  the  Seneca  and  the  Mohawk  rivers,  a plateau  of  country 
extends  for  sixty  miles,  along  which  not  a single  lock  was  required 
in  constructing  the  canal.  Nothing  was  needed  to  be  done,  in  fact, 
but  to  cut  through  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake,  and  lead  the  out- 
flowing waters  down  along  a gradually  descending  country  to  the 
sources  of  the  Mohawk,  and  with  the  course  of  that  stream  to  the 
Hudson.  So  favorable  was  the  topography  of  the  route  that  the 
cost  of  making  this  channel,  three  hundred  and  sixty-three  miles 
long,  was  estimated  at  only  $5,000,000,  and  did  not  actually  ex- 
ceed $7,000,000,  on  the  plan  on  which  the  canal  was  first  completed. 
No  sooner  did  trade  begin  to  find  an  artificial  outlet  from  Lake 
Erie  to  the  Hudson,  than  canals  across  the  low  divides  between  the 
waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio,  and  Lake  Michigan  and  the 
upper  Mississippi,  were  undertaken.  It  required  lockages  of  only 
five  hundred  and  sixty-nine  feet  to  reach  the  elevation  of  Lake 
Erie  from  the  Hudson;  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio,  the  ele- 
vation to  be  surmounted  was  only  nine  hundred  and  fifty  feet ; 
while  that  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  was  only 
six  hundred  and  ten  feet.  New  York  plainly  saw  that,  by  first 
constructing  her  own  canal,  and  then  aiding  the  states  of  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Illinois  in  constructing  other  canals  over  these  easy 
summits,  she  would  obtain  command  of  the  trade  of  a country  em- 
bracing half  a million  of  square  miles,  as  fertile  as  the  Delta  of  the 
Nile.  While  New  York  had  only  these  three  inconsiderable  sum- 
mits to  surmount,  iu  order  to  reach  beyond  the  lakes  to  the  Mis- 


16 


sissippi  and  the  Ohio;  what  were  those  which  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
land and  Virginia  had  to  overcome  in  simply  reaching  the  Ohio? 
Pennsylvania  had  a range  of  mountain  country  seventy  miles  in 
breadth  to  penetrate  with  her  canal,  and  a summit  of  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-nine  feet  to  surmount  with  locks.  Mary- 
land had  a series  of  mountain  ranges  a hundred  miles  broad  to 
traverse,  and  a summit  level  of  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
fifty-four  feet  to  lift  her  canal  over.  Virginia  had  a like  series  of 
elevations,  a hundred  miles  in  breadth  to  cross,  and  a summit  of 
1700  feet  to  overcome. 

Yet  nothing  daunted  by  barriers  which  would  be  appalling 
even  to  the  enterprising  spirit  of  our  own  time,  these  states  went 
boldly  forward  with  their  respective  canals.  Pennsylvania  spent 
$20,000,000  in  making  a water  line,  broken  by  inclined  plains  and 
pieced  by  portages.  Maryland,  aided  by  Virginia,  spent  eight  mil- 
lions of  dollars  on  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal,  in  carrying  it 
no  further  than  the  foot  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  then,  dismayed  by 
the  difficulties  still  before  her,  gave  up  the  water  line  and  devoted 
her  resources  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad.  Virginia  under- 
took her  canal  as  courageously  as  the  rest;  and  after  spending 
$10,000,000  found  she  had  carried  it  only  to  the  western  base  of  the 
Blue  Ridge.  The  works  in  which  these  three  states  had  been  en- 
gaged were  so  arduous,  expensive  and  tedious,  that  before  they 
could  be  completed  the  growing  preference  for  railroads,  and  the 
success  of  those  works,  produced  a division  of  popular  sentiment 
on  the  subject  of  the  proper  improvements  to  be  constructed,  and 
caused  a suspension  of  the  canals.  Owing  to  the  favorable  route 
enjoyed  by  Yew  York,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  the  Erie  canal 
was  constructed,  Yew  York  had  completed  her  great  work  before 
the  popular  preference  for  railroads  had  supervened  to  suspend  that 
work.  She  pushed  it  through  to  early  completion ; secured,  also, 
the  construction  of  the  Ohio  and  Illinois  canals;  and  thus  completed 
a grand  system  of  inland  navigation  reaching  more  than  a thou- 
sand miles  into  the  heart  of  the  West,  before  being  called  on  to 
embark  in  railroad  enterprises. 

Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia  were  forced  to  change  their 
system  of  improvements  after  having  crippled  their  finances  on 
unfinished  canals,  and  to  engage  in  the  construction  of  railroads, 
without  the  aid  of  the  trade  which  had  been  expected  from  the 
canals. 

Merits  of  the  Central  Water-line. 

The  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  rivers  is  the  grand 
converging  point  of  the  Kansas,  Yebraska,  Missouri,  Mississippi, 
Illinios,  Ohio,  Cumberland  and  Tennessee  rivers;  is  the  geograph- 
ical centre  of  their  trade,  and  the  converging  and  diverging  point 
of  seventeen  thousand  miles  of  inland  steamboat  navigation; 
whilst  Yorfolk,  the  central  and  most  capacious  harbor  of  the  At- 
lantic coast,  is  connected  with  the  centre  of  the  vast  interior  (ex- 


17 


cept  the  little  space  occupied  by  the  “unfinished  section”  of  the 
Virginia  Canal)  by  an  unbroken  water-line,  which  is  at  once  short- 
er, cheaper  and  more  reliable  than  any  other,  and  open  to  trade 
for  more  than  eleven  months  of  the  year.  It  would  seem  that 
these  two  great  centres  were  made  expressly  for  each  other. 

For  many  years  the  cheapness  of  transportation  on  the  Erie  ca- 
nal gave  a permanently  north-eastward  tendency  to  the  trade  of 
the  whole  West,  above  the  parallel  of  St.  Louis.  But  the  perfec- 
tion to  which  railroad  construction  has  been  brought,  and  the  in- 
creasing cheapness  and  rapidity  of  railroad  transportation  have 
given  to  western  trade  a strong  and  growing  tendency  to  cross  the 
country  on  lower  latitudes  and  shorter  routes.  Hence  the  vast  bu- 
siness that  has  sprung  up  on  the  Pennsylvania  roads,  on  the  Balti- 
more and  Ohio  road,  and  on  the  Norfolk  and  Memphis  line  of  road. 

The  growing  preference  of  western  trade  is  for  ceutral  lines;  • 
not  only  because  they  are  more  exempt  from  the  frosts  of  the 
northern  climate,  but  because  they  are  on  the  shortest  routes  from 
the  centres  of  western  production  and  population,  to  the  centre  of 
the  American  seaboard.  It  is  this  tendency  of  trade,  it  is  this  neces- 
sity of  trade,  that  has  so  powerfully  turned  public  attention  of  late 
to  Norfolk  as  a great  seaport  city,  and  given  so  much  credit  to  the 
lines  of  improvement  proposed  for  connecting  the  great  Virginia 
seaport  with  the  leading  cities  in  the  central  West. 

The  Great  Harbor  of  Norfolk. 

In  respect  to  the  advantages  of  Norfolk  in  its  central  location 
upon  the  seaboard,  and  the  superlative  excellence  of  its  harbor,  the 
highest  authority  in  maritime  and  commercial  subjects,  Commo- 
dore M.  F.  Maury,  better  known  to  science  as  Lieutenant  Maury, 
is  here  quoted.  That  eminent  author  says: 

“ Geographically  considered,  the  harbors  of  Norfolk  or  Hampton 
Roads  and  New  York  occupy  the  most  important  and  commanding 
positions  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States.  They  are 
more  convenient  to  the  ocean  than  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and 
Boston  are,  because  they  are  not  so  far  from  the  sea. 

“Depth  of  water  that  can  be  carried  out,  and  distance  of  the  sea 
from 

Hampton  Roads,  distant  15  miles — depth  28  feet. 

New  York,  “ 30  “ 3f  fathoms,  23  feet. 

Boston,  “ 100  “ 3f  “ 21  “ 

Philadelphia,  “ 100  “ 3§  “ 23  “ 

Baltimore,  “ 160  “ 2f  “ 16  “ 

“Between  the  three  last  and  the  sea  there  is  a tedious  bay  naviga- 
tion, but  each  of  the  first  two  is  situated  upon  a well  sheltered  har- 
bor, that  opens  right  out  upon  the  sea  with  beautiful  offings,  those 
of  Hampton  Roads  surpassing  the  others  in  all  the  requirements  of 
navigation,  both  as  to  facility  of  ingress  and  egress,  certainty  of 
land  fall,  depth  of  water,  and  holding  ground. 

“The  Chesapeake  bay  is  a “ king’s  chamber”  in  the  bosom  of 
3 


18 


Virginia,  which  no  belligerent  may  enter  with  other  than  good 
intent.  It  affords  the  finest  harbors  on  the  coast ; and,  moreover, 
they  are  those  farthest  to  the  north  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  the 
continent,  that  are  never  obstructed  by  ice. 

“ To  the  south,  all  the  seaport  towns,  as  far  as  the  Reefs  of  Flo- 
rida, have  their  harbors  obstructed  by  bars,  over  which  the  larger 
vessels  of  commerce  can  never  pass;  and  the  extent  of  back  coun- 
try, naturally  tributary  to  them,  is,  in  comparison  with  that  which 
is  tributary  to  the  seaport  towns  of  Chesapeake  bay,  very  small. 
It  does  not  extend  beyond  the  drainage  of  these  rivers. 

“ The  harbors  that  lie  north  of  the  Chesapeake  are  liable  to  ob- 
structions by  ice  every  winter,  and  their  approaches  are  often  en- 
dangered by  the  fogs  which  prevail  in  their  offings. 

“ This  noble  sheet  of  water,  with  its  spacious  harbors,  is  large 
enough  to  accommodate  shipping  sufficient  to  afford  transportation 
for  all  the  products  and  merchandise  of  the  West,  were  they  a 
thousand  fold  more  abundant  than  they  are ; and  it  is  the  most  con- 
venient point  on  the  entire  coast  for  distributing  them  north  and 
south  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  or  for  sending  them  to  markets 
beyond  the  sea. 

“ As  to  the  natural  advantages  of  position,  depth  of  water,  and 
accessibility  by  land  and  sea,  Norfolk  has  no  competitor  among  the  sea- 
port towns  of  the  Atlantic . Midway  the  Atlantic  coast  line  of  the 
United  States,  Norfolk  is  the  most  convenient  because  the  most 
central  point  where  the  produce  of  the  interior  may  be  collected; 
and  whence  it  may  be  distributed,  north  and  south,  right  and  left, 
among  the  markets  of  the  seaboard.  Its  climate  is  delightful ; it  is 
exactly  of  that  happy  middle  temperature  where  the  frosts  of  the 
north  bite  not,  and  where  the  pestilence  of  the  south  walketh  not. 
Its  harbor  is  commodious,  and  as  safe  as  can  be.  It  is  never  blocked 
up  with  ice,  and  as  to  the  egress  and  ingress  between  it  and  the 
sea,  it  possesses  all  the  facilities  that  the  mariner  could  desire. 

“Moreover,  the  prevailing  winds  in  the  parallel  of  Norfolk  are 
westerly  winds,  which  are  fair  for  coasting  and  for  going  seaward 
in  any  direction.  A little  to  the  south  of  that  parallel  you  find  the 
northeast  trades,  which  are  fair  winds  for  the  inward  bound  Nor- 
folk vessels. 

“Then  there  is  the  gulf  stream,  that  mighty  river  in  the  ocean, 
upon  the  verge  of  which  Norfolk  stands. 

“It  flows  up  with  a current  which,  without  the  help  of  sweeps, 
sails  or  steam,  will  carry  the  European  bound  vessel  out  of  Nor- 
folk at  the  rate  of  nearly  one  hundred  miles  a day,  directly  on  her 
course.  Then  at  the  sides  of  this,  and  counter  to  it,  are  eddies 
which  favor  the  same  vessel  on  her  return  to  Norfolk.  These 
hawse  her  along  and  shorten  her  voyage  by  many  a mile. 

“Such  are  the  natural  advantages  of  Norfolk  seaward.  Let  us 
look  ashore  and  consider  them  landward,  and  compare  them  with 
the  natural  inland  advantages  of  New  York.  Stretch  a string  on 
the  map  from  Norfolk  to  New  York  and  make  a dot  half  way  be- 


19 


tween  them.  Now  seek  a point  on  the  south  shore  of  lake  Erie 
that  is  equidistant  from  New  York  and  Norfolk;  draw  a line  from 
the  dot  to  this  point,  and  you  will  have  a dividing  line  of  distance 
between  the  two  places,  every  point  along  which  will  be  just  as  far 
from  the  one  place  as  the  other.  You  will  find  that  this  line  runs 
through  Delaware  and  cuts  lake  Erie  near  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

“ Thus  you  perceive  that  Chicago,  in  Illinois,  and  St.  Louis,  Mis- 
souri, are  actually  nearer  to  Norfolk  than  they  are  to  New  York, 
even  by  an  air  line. 

“You  see,  moreover,  that  as  between  New  York  and  Norfolk,  the 
natural  advantages  here  are  greatly  in  favor  of  the  latter. 

“ The  most  direct  way  to  the  sea  through  either  of  these  ports,  from 
most  of  the  lake  country,  and  from  almost  the  entire  Mississippi  valley, 
lies  through  Virginia.  The  natural  advantages,  then,  of  Norfolk  in 
relation  to  the  sea,  or  to  the  back  country,  are  superior  beyond 
comparison  to  those  of  New  York.” 

In  his  great  work,  entitled  “ Physical  Survey  of  Virginia ,”  Com- 
modore Maury  further  says  in  regard  to  the  military  advantages  of 
Norfolk: 

“ Moreover,  the  approaches  from  the  sea  to  Sandy  Hook  and  to 
the  Chesapeake  are  greatly  in  favor  of  the  latter.  In  war,  light- 
houses would  be  extinguished,  and  all  lightboats,  beacons  and 
buoys  removed.  The  channel  way  to  Sandy  Hook  is  narrow  and 
intricate,  so  that  a vessel  flying  from  a superior  force  in  war,  to 
seek  protection  under  the  forts  or  shelter  in  the  harbor,  would 
run  great  risk  of  stranding.  On  the  other  hand,  the  entrance  to 
the  Chesapeake  is  wide,  open  and  clear;  ships  can  run  in  there  by 
night  as  well  as  by  day,  and  in  all  weathers. 

“Sandy  Hook  is  hydrographically  very  easy  to  blockade,  the 
Chesapeake  difficult.  The  offings  of  Sandy  Hook  are  sheltered  on 
the  North  and  West,  forming  a lee  under  which  blockaders  may 
find  shelter  from  all  gales  coming  from  either  of  these  two  quar- 
ters of  the  horizon. 

“At  Sandy  Hook  the  blockaders  would  have  to  watch  a ship 
channel  way  only  900  yards  wide.  The  entrance  to  the  Chesa- 
peake is  as  wide  as  the  distance  (9  miles)  between  the  capes  of 
Virginia.  The  coast  from  Hatteras  to  Henlopen  is  rigid  and  in- 
hospitable, offering  neither  shelter  nor  refreshment  to  an  enemy  in 
distress.” 

Between  such  a system  of  navigation  as  that  which  centres  about 
the  mouths  of  the  Ohio  and  Missouri,  and  a harbor  so  central,  so 
capacious,  so  accessible,  and  so  convenient  for  the  trade  of  the 
land  and  of  the  sea  as  Norfolk,  situated  due  east,  on  the  shortest 
route  from  the  commercial  centre  of  the  West,  it  would  seem  that 
there  ought  to  be  opened  a direct  line  of  navigation.  No  where 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  are  two  such  vast  systems  of  navigation 
brought  into  as  close  proximity  as  those  afforded  by  the  waters  of 
the  Atlantic  and  by  the  rivers  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  which 
almost  touch  each  other  on  the  territory  of  Virginia, 


20 


Nature  has  performed  the  maximum  of  the  labor  required  for 
uniting  them,  and  left  art  to  perform  the  minimum.  The  problem 
is,  simply  to  extend  the  channel  of  the  Ohio,  or  rather  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, thirty  miles  eastward  toward  the  Chesapeake,  so  that  the 
Mississippi  may,  as  to  its  navigation,  empty  by  the  shortest  passage 
into  the  Atlantic.  The  union  of  two  such  vast  navigations  would 
justify  the  expenditure  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars. 

Distances  of  Trade  Points  in  the  Interior  from  different  Markets . 

Commodore  Maury,  in  his  Physical  Survey  of  Virginia , furnishes 
the  following  table  of  distances  from  leading  commercial  centres  in 
the  West,  by  important  routes,  respectively,  to  New  York  and  Nor- 
folk: 


21 


"COMPARISON  OF  WATER  ROUTES  AS  TO  LENGTH.” 


FROM 

To  New  York 
via 

Lakes. 

To  Norfolk 
via 

James  River 
Canal. 

Difference 
in  favor  of 
Norfolk. 

Miles. 

Miles. 

Miles. 

Fort  Benton 

5,012 

4,673 

339 

Omaha 

2,712 

2,373 

339 

Kansas  City 

2,368 

2,029 

339 

Mouth  of  Missouri  river 

1,912 

1,573 

339 

Mouth  of  Illinois  river 

1,889 

1,596 

293 

St.  Paul 

2,637 

2,344 

293 

St.  Louis 

1,932 

1,553 

379 

Mouth  of  Ohio  river 

2,132 

1,353 

779 

Memphis 

2,382 

1,603 

779 

Louisville 

2,519 

966 

1,553 

Nashville 

2,397 

1,498 

899 

Cincinnati 

2,661 

824 

1,837 

Wheeling 

3,043 

778 

2,265 

Pittsburg 

3,137 

872 

2,265 

Via  Gulf 

St.  Paul 

4,014 

2,344 

1,670 

St.  Louis 

3,223 

1,553 

1,670 

Cincinnati 

3,552 

824 

2,728 

Louisville 

3,410 

966 

2,444 

Pittsburg 

4,028 

872 

3,156 

Wheeling 

3,934 

778 

3,156 

Nashville 

3,288 

1,498 

1,790 

Mouth  of  the  Ohio 

3,023 

1,353 

1,670 

Memphis 

2,798 

1,603 

1,195 

This  author  indulges  in  the  following  striking  comments  upon 
the  facts  developed  by  these  tables: 

“These  figures  reveal  the  fact  that  as  between  New  York  and 
Norfolk,  Norfolk  is  not  only  the  nearest  Atlantic  seaport  to  the 
great  valley  of  the  West,  but  that  (the  Virginia  water  line)  would 
open  a shorter  and  cheaper  route  to  New  York  than  either  the  lakes 
or  the  gulf  now  afford  from  any  place  between  New  Orleans  and 


22 


St.  Paul,  and  from  Fort  Benton  to  Mobile.  The  distance  from 
Norfolk  to  New  York  is  279  sea  miles.  And  Norfolk  by  the  pro- 
posed route,  will  be  293  miles  nearer  than  New  York  is  by. present 
routes,  to  all  places  on  the  Mississippi  river  that  are  situated  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  river.  When  we  come  below  that,  and 
get  on  the  Ohio,  then  the  flourishing  cities  on  both  sides  of  that 
river  will  be  1000  to  1500  miles  nearer  to  New  York  via  Norfolk, 
than  they  are  via  the  lakes.  This  Virginia  route  will  bring 
all  places  on  the  Mississippi  river  above  Memphis,  and  all  places 
on  the  Missouri  and  its  tributaries,  nearer  to  Norfolk  than  they  now 
are  via  river  and  gulf  to  New  York,  by  more  than  1600  miles,  and 
they  will  bring  all  the  landing  and  river  towns  on  the  Ohio  from 
1700  to  3100  miles  nearer  to  Norfolk  by  water  than  they  now  are 
by  river  and  gulf  to  New  York.” 

Relative  merits  of  the  three  Water  Routes. 

The  desideratum  being  to  carry  the  largest  possible  quantity  of 
freights  at  the  cheapest  rates,  the  necessity  of  an  additional  canal 
on  the  shortest  and  most  direct  route,  connecting  the  vast  system 
of  navigation  in  the  West  with  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic,  not  in 
lieu  of  railroads,  not  in  competition  with  them  anywhere,  but  in 
addition  to  and  in  aid  of  them,  has  been  already  shown.  At  pre- 
sent there  are  no  means  of  water  outlet  for  the  produce  of  the 
great  interior  of  the  continent  except  by  way  of  the  Balize,  the 
gulf  and  the  Florida  Pass  on  one  hand,  and  by  way  of  the  lakes 
and  the  Erie  canal  or  the  St.  Lawrence  river  on  the  other. 

The  efficiency  of  the  northern  lake  and  canal  route  is  impaired 
by  two  circumstances.  The  first  of  these  is  that  the  route  is 
closed  by  ice  for  five-twelfths  of  the  year,  the  closing  taking  place 
before  the  wheat  of  the  interior  country  can  be  moved  to  market, 
and  before  the  corn  is  sufficiently  matured  and  dry  to  be  shipped. 
The  second  is,  that  vessels  suitable  for  the  navigation  of  the  Erie 
canal  cannot  weather  the  storms  of  the  lakes — a circumstance  which 
involves  the  necessity  of  two  transhipments.  The  equinoctial  storms 
which  endanger  the  navigation  of  the  lakes  in  September  and  Oc- 
tober set  in  just  as  the  wheat  of  the  interior  begins  to  move  to- 
wards market. 

The  efficiency  of  the  southern  route  by  the  lower  Mississippi, 
the  gulf  and  the  capes  of  Florida,  is  impaired  by  several  circum- 
stances. The  navigation  of  the  gulf  is  unsafe  by  reason  of  fre- 
quent and  sudden  storms,  and  the  passage  of  the  capes  of  Florida 
is  extremely  dangerous  from  the  presence  of  hidden  reefs  of  rocks. 
Pilotage  on  the  lower  river  and  insurance  upon  the  gulf  voyage 
impose  heavy  taxes  upon  all  produce  passingout  from  New  Orleans. 

Not  to  dwell  invidiously,  however,  on  other  disadvantages  be- 
longing to  these  two  routes,  which  art  and  enterprise  may  succeed 
in  removing,  the  great  irremediable  objection  to  both  of  them  is,  the 
circuitous  distances  which  they  require  western  trade  to  pass  over  on 


23 


its  way  to  market,  coupled  with  the  misfortune  that  neither  of  them 
lies  wholly  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States.  The 
distance  of  St.  Louis  from  New  York  is  1,932  miles  by  way  of 
the  lakes,  and  3,223  miles  by  way  of  New  Orleans  and  the 
gulf.  They  lie  along  either  extremity  of  then  ational  territo- 
ry, and  require  the  great  bulk  of  interior  production  to  move 
around  the  extremities  of  the  country,  instead  of  moving  di- 
rectly across  it.  If,  however,  there  were  opened  a direct  line 
of  water  transportation  from  St.  Louis  to  Norfolk,  the  distance 
to  be  traversed  by  western  trade  in  reaching  the  best  port  of  the 
Atlantic  would  be  only  1,553  miles. 

History  of  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  Improvement. 

We  come  now  to  speak  specially  of  the  James  River  and  Kana- 
wTha  canal  of  Virginia,  the  completion  of  which  is  now  proposed, 
and  has  become  an  object  of  a most  lively  and  pervading  public 
concern. 

The  idea  of  a communication  by  a public  highway  between  the 
valley  of  the  Ohio  river  and  the  valley  of  the  James  river,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  originated  with  General  Spotswood  when’,  on  the  20th 
of  August,  1716,  he  set  out  from  Williamsburg  on  his  expedition 
over  the  Blue  Ridge.  The  first  suggestion,  however,  of  a through 
line  was  from  Rev.  James  Maury,  in  a letter  dated  January  10th, 
1756.  It  was  reserved  to  General  Washington,  however,  after  his 
expedition  to  the  West,  in  1753,  to  bring  the  subject  prominently 
forward,  which  he  did  by  urging  upon  the  governor  and  council  of 
Virginia  the  importance,  as  well  for  commercial  as  for  military  pur- 
poses, of  a connection  between  the  East  and  the  West.  This 
scheme  he  cherished  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  In  1770, 
1772  and  1774,  he  made  tours  of  examination  with  a view  to  supply 
himself  with  facts  which  would  enable  him  to  show  the  feasibility, 
^expense  and  advantages  of  the  connection.  In  a letter  to  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson, 29th  March,  1784,  he  informs  him  that  he  had  been  long 
impressed  with  the  importance  of  a communication  between  the 
waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac;  that  he  became  the  principal 
mover  of  a bill  in  the  General  Assembly,  of  which  body  he  was 
then  a member,  to  empower  a number  of  subscribers  to  undertake, 
at  their  own  expense,  the  extension  of  the  navigation  of  the  Poto- 
mac from  tidewater  to  Wills’s  creek,  a distance  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  with  a portage  between  it  and  the  streams  capable 
of  improvement  which  run  into  the  Ohio.  He  repeatedly  referred 
to  the  same  subject  afterwards,  and  seems  to  have  been  as  profoundly 
interested  in  it  as  De  Witt  Clinton  afterwards  was  in  the  New  York 
and  Erie  Canal.  He  urged  the  matter  upon  Governor  Harrison, 
father  of  President  Harrison,  who  communicated  the  subject  in  a 
message  to  the  legislature  October  18,  1784.  General  Washington 
visited  the  legislature  in  person  to  confer  with  the  members  upon  a 
plan  of  internal  improvement;  and  on  the  15th  December,  1784, 


24 


James  Madison,  chairman  of  a committee  appointed  for  that  pur- 
pose, reported  a bill  for  opening  and  extending  the  navigation  of 
James  river,  which  became  a law  January  5,  1785,  and  was  sigued 
on  that  day  by  the  speaker,  John  Tyler,  father  of  President  Tyler. 
These  facts  show  that  this  great  improvement  was  the  conception 
of  the  wisest,  most  practical  and  far  seeing  minds  of  Virginia. 

This  organization  continued  until  the  17th  day  of  February, 
1820,  on  which  day  the  legislature  passed  an  act  to  amend  the 
“ Act  for  clearing  and  improving  the  navigation  of  James  river, 
and  for  uniting  the  eastern  and  western  waters  by  the  J ames  and 
Kanawha  rivers.”  By  this  act  the  rights  and  interest  of  the  James 
river  company  were  transferred  to  the  commonwealth,  and  by  an 
act  passed  February  24th,  1823,  all  the  rights,  power,  duties  and 
privileges  of  the  president  and  directors  were  conferred  on  the 
board  of  public  works,  whose  transactions  were  to  be  still  in  the 
name  of  the  “James  river  company.”  This  organization  con- 
tinued until  the  year  1835. 

The  old  James  river  company  constructed  a canal  around  the 
falls  of  James  river,  extending  from  the  city  of  Richmond  to  West- 
ham,  a distance  of  about  seven  miles,  and  improved  the  bed  of  the 
river  by  sluices  as  high  up  as  Buchanan. 

The  second  James  river  company,  on  state  account,  enlarged  and 
reconstructed  the  former  canal  from  Richmond  to  Westham,  and 
extended  the  same  to  Maiden’s  Adventure,  in  Goochland  county, 
a distance  of  27  miles;  constructed  a canal  through  the  Blue 
Ridge  seven  and  a half  miles  long;  constructed  a turnpike  road 
from  Covington  to  the  mouth  of  Big  Sandy  river,  two  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  long,  and  improved  the  Kanawha  river  by  wing 
dams  and  sluices  from  Charleston  to  its  mouth,  a distance  of  58 
miles. 

The  James  river  and  Kanawha  company  was  incorporated  March 
16th,  1832,  and  organized  May  25th,  1835.  By  the  charter  the 
whole  interest  of  the  commonwealth  in  the  works  and  property  of 
the  then  existing  James  river  company  was  transferred  to  the 
James  river  and  Kanawha  company;  the  state  being  interested  in 
the  latter  to  the  extent  of  three-fifths  of  its  capital  stock,  and  indi- 
viduals and  corporations  to  the  extent  of  the  remaining  two-fifths. 

The  construction  of  the  new  canal  from  Richmond  to  Lynch- 
burg wras  commenced  in  1836,  and  the  work  was  completed  about 
the  first  of  December,  1840. 

In  that  time  the  work  of  construction  of  the  second  division  of 
the  canal  above  Lynchburg  was  commenced,  and  prosecuted  up  to 
the  year  1842,  when,  for  want  of  funds,  it  was  abandoned.  On  the 
1st  of  March,  1847,  an  appropriation  of  $1,246,000  was  made  by 
the  legislature  for  the  purpose  of  completing  the  unfinished  work 
between  Lynchburg  and  North  river,  and  the  extension  and  com- 
pletion of  the  canal  to  Buchanan. 

The  work  was  commenced  in  July,  1847,  and  completed  in  No- 
vember, 1851. 


25 


Fifteen  miles  of  the  3rd  division  of  the  canal,  next  above 
Buchanan,  was  put  under  contract  in  August,  1853,  but  for  want 
of  funds  the  work  was  suspended  in  the  fall  of  1856.  The  work 
done  on  this  portion  of  the  line  consisted  chiefly  of  stone  locks, 
aqueducts  and  tunnelling. 

The  original  capital  of  the  company  was  five  million  dollars, 
of  which  the  state  paid  one  million  in  old  works,  and  of  the  pri- 
vate subscription  there  proved  to  be  insolvent  $73,336,  leaving 
$3,926,664  as  the  actual  available  cash  capital.  All  beyond  the 
capital  thus  realized,  has  been  money  either  borrowed  directly 
from  the  state  treasury  or  on  bonds  guaranteed  by  the  state,  on 
which  the  company  has  been  required  to  pay  interest  from  the  day 
it  was  received,  before  it  was  expended,  and  of  course  long  before 
it  began  to  yield  any  return. 

The  actual  cost  of  construction  of  the  James  River  and  Kana- 
wha canal,  including  the  incomplete  works  above  Buchanau,  has 
been  $10,436,869. 

To  relieve  the  company  from  its  embarrassment  and  to  enable  it 
to  complete  the  canal  to  Covington,  the  legislature,  on  the  23rd 
of  March,  1860,  passed  an  “act  to  amend  the  charter  of  the  James 
River  and  Kanawha  company,  by  which  the  capital  stock  of  the 
company  was  increased  to  twelve  million  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  in  shares  of  one  hundred  dollars  each,  and  the  board  of 
public  works  was  directed  to  subscribe  on  behalf  of  the  common- 
wealth, in  addition  to  the  shares  now  owned  by  the  state  in  said 
company,  for  seventy-four  thousand  shares  of  said  capital  stock, 
which  shall  be  declared  by  said  company  a six  per  cent,  preferred 
stock,  on  which  six  dollars  per  share  shall  be  paid  to  the  holders 
thereof,  before  any  dividend  shall  be  paid  on  other  stock  of  said 
company;  whereof  seventy-two  thousand  shares  shall  be  taken  in 
full  satisfaction  of  the  debt  now  due  from  the  said  company  to  the 
state,  and  for  the  assumption  by  the  state  of  the  debt  for  which 
the  state  is  bound  as  the  surety  for  said  company,  and  the  annuity 
to  the  old  James  river  company;  and  for  the  residue  of  two  thou- 
sand shares,  the  bonds  of  the  state  for  the  aggregate  amount  of  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars  are  to  be  delivered  to  the  company,  to 
be  applied  to  the  extinguishment  of  the  floating  debt  of  the  com- 
pany. 

On  the  first  March,  1867,  the  legislature  of  Virginia  passed  an 
act  authorizing  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  company  “to  bor- 
row the  sum  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  ap- 
plied to  paying  oft*  the  floating  debt  of  the  company,  putting  and 
keeping  its  present  works  in  repair,  and  to  give  a mortgage  on  the 
property,  franchises  and  nett  revenues  of  the  company,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  securing  such  loan.”  This  loan  has  been  effected. 

The  capital  stock  is  at  present  held  as  follows: 


4 


26 


104,000  shares. 
5,768  “ 

673  “ 

100  « 
13,459  “ 


Description  of  the  Virginia  Water  Line. 


The  Virginia  water  line  extends  from  tidewater  on  James  river 
at  Richmond,  to  the  Ohio  at  Point  Pleasant,  the  mouth  of  the 
great  Kanawha,  a distance  of  482  miles,  and  consists  of  the  follow- 
ing completed  and  unfinished  works : 


Commonwealth  of  Virginia, 
City  of  Richmond, 

City  of  Lynchburg, 
Washington  college, 
Individual  stockholders, 


1.00  mile. 
146.50  “ 

50.00  “ 

47.00  " 

29.33  “ 
123.21  “ 
85.12  “ 

482.16  “ 

The  different  forms  of  navigation  on  this  route  are  thus  dis- 
tributed : 

Two  hundred  and  eight  miles  of  slack  water  navigation  from  the 
Ohio  to  Howard’s  creek,  a branch  of  the  Greenbrier. 

Forty-two  and  three-fourth  miles  of  slack  water  at  intervals  be- 
tween the  Greenbrier  river  and  Richmond. 

Two  hundred  and  thirty-four  and  a quarter  miles  of  canal  navi- 
gation. There  are  also  125  miles  of  river  navigation  from  Rich- 
mond to  Norfolk. 

Cost  and  plan  of  the  Work. 

In  his  report  on  this  subject,  Mr.  Lorraine,  the  engineer  of  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  Company,  speaks  as  follows  of  the  plan 
proposed  for  completing  the  line,  and  of  the  portion  of  the  work 
now  in  use: 

“I  have  provided  for  a canal  from  Buchanan  to  the  Greenbrier 
river  of  the  same  dimensions  as  the  enlarged  Erie  canal,  viz : 42 
feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  70  feet  at  the  water  surface,  and  with  a 
depth  of  water  of  7 feet;  the  locks  to  be  120  feet  long  between 
the  gates,  and  20  feet  wide. 

“ The  locks  will  admit  boats  about  108  feet  long  and  19  feet  wide, 
with  six  feet  draft  of  water;  such  boats  will  carry  at  least  280 
tons;  but  I will  put  the  average  loads  at  250  tons. 

“I  propose  to  establish  the  summit  at  a level  1700  feet  above  tide, 
or  twenty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Greenbrier  river  at  the  mouth 
of  Howard’s  creek,  and  pass  through  the  Alleghany  mountain  by 


1st.  The  Richmond  dock  and  tidewater  connection  (completed), 

2d.  The  first  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Richmond  to  Lynch- 
burg (completed), 

3d.  The  second  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Lynchburg  to 
Buchanan  (completed), 

4th.  The  third  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Buchanan  to  Coving- 
ton (partially  constructed), 

5th.  The  fourth  division  of  the  canal,  extending  from  Covington  to  the 
Greenbrier  river  (not  yet  touched), 

6th.  The  Greenbrier  and  New  rivers  to  Lyken’s  shoals  on  the  Kanawha, 

7th.  The  Kanawha  river  from  Lyken’s  shoals  to  the  Ohio  river, 


27 


a tunnel  about  nine  miles  long.  We  would  thus,  by  feeding  di- 
rectly from  the  Greenbrier  river,  be  enabled  to  pass  the  summit 
level  without  the  aid  of  reservoirs. 

“I  have  provided  for  a tunnel  56  feet  wide,  and  32  feet  high,  with 
a waterway  44  feet  wide,  and  a tow-path  of  solid  mortared  masonry 
on  each  side  six  feet  wide,  so  that  boats  drawn  by  horses  can  pass 
each  other  without  inconvenience;  but  these  tow-paths  may  be  dis- 
pensed with,  and  the  tunnel  excavated  to  its  full  width  of  56  feet, 
may  be  navigated  by  steam  tugs  towing  the  canal  boats  through  it. 

“This  tunnel,  with  the  favorable  character  of  the  mountain  for 
the  location  of  numerous  shafts,  and  the  facilities  which  the  late  im- 
provements in  automatic  machine  drilling  have  afforded  for  the 
rapid  prosecution  of  that  kind  of  work,  could  be  completed  pro- 
bably as  quick  as  the  rest  of  the  work  [say  in  4 years.]  On  the 
line  of  the  short  tunnel,  as  located,  there  are  three  depressions  in 
the  mountain  at  which  shafts  may  be  sunk,  one  129  feet,  one  264 
feet,  and  one  215  feet  deep,  or  three  shafts  in  24  miles,  avera^in^ 
203  feet  deep. 

“ The  estimate  for  the  Greenbrier  and  New  rivers  is  for  steamboat 
navigation,  with  stone  dams  and  locks,  the  locks  to  be  200  feet  long 
and  40  feet  wide,  with  7 feet  depth  of  water;  extending  to  Lyken’s 
shoals  on  the  Kanawha,  where  sluice  navigation  will  begin. 

“ As  it  would  be  useless  to  construct  the  canal  from  Buchanan  to 
the  Ohio  river,  on  an  enlarged  scale,  without  making  a correspond- 
ing increase  in  the  size  of  the  locks,  and  in  the  depth  of  the  canal 
from  Richmond  to  Buchanan,  I have  made  an  estimate  of  the  cost 
of  building  new  locks  120X20  by  the  side  of  the  old  ones,  and  of 
increasing  the  depth  of  the  water  in  the  canal  to  7 feet.” 

The  cost  of  enlarging  the  present  canal,  of  completing  it  to  the 
Greenbrier  river  on  the  enlarged  scale,  and  of  improving  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Greenbrier,  the  New  and  the  Kanawha  rivers,  on  the 
scale  thus  described,  is  given  by  the  engineer  at  $37,363,911.  The 
capacity  of  the  canal  thus  enlarged  for  transmitting  tonnage  will 
be  measured  by  the  capacity  of  the  great  tunnel  on  the  summit 
level  and  of  the  locks  approaching  it.  This  capacity  is  thus  stated 
by  Mr.  Lorraine. 

“The  boats  will  carry,  in  fact,  280  tons;  but  I will  put  the 
average  loads  at  250  tons,  and  will  suppose  that  one  boat  will  pass 
through  the  locks  in  every  7J  minutes,  or  192  boats  per  day  for  300 
days,  and  obtain  14,300,000  tons  as  the  actual  capacity  of  the  canal 
with  a full  trade.  It  would  be  fair  then  to  assume  the  half  of  this 
sum,  or  say  7,000,000  tons,  as  the  probable  tonnage.” 

The  theoretic  capacity  of  this  canal  will  therefore  be  fourteen 
millions  of  tons,  its  actual  capacity  at  least  seven  millions. 

The  plan  of  construction  and  enlargement,  thus  described  and 
devised  by  Mr.  Lorraine,  is  approved  and  commended  by  Mr.  B. 
H..  Latrobe,  one  of  the  highest  authorities  on  such  subjects;  as  also 
by  Major  General  Charles  P.  Stone,  late  of  the  United  States 
army.  General  Stone,  in  a letter  published  in  a document  of  the 


28 


James  River  and  Kanawha  Company,  says  of  the  long  tunnel  pro- 
posed by  Mr.  Lorraine:  “The  plan  requires  the  following  opera- 
tions: 

“1st.  The  driving  of  a tunnel  nine  miles  long,  or,  in  effect,  nine 
tunnels , each  one  mile  long,  56  feet  wide,  and  32  feet  high. 

“ 2nd.  The  construction  of  a strong,  perfect  dam  across  the 
Greenbrier  river  to  make  it  sure  as  a feeder. 

“ Of  the  above  nine  tunnels  Mr.  Lorraine  proposes  to  drive  seven, 
each  between  two  shafts  12  feet  in  diameter.  Two  between  a shaft 
at  one  end  and  a thorough  cut  at  the  other. 

“As  regards  the  feasibility  of  the  succession  of  tunnels,  I think 
there  can  be  no  question. 

“By  the  sinking  of  eight  shafts,  the  matter  is  reduced  to  the 
driving  of  nine  tunnels,  each  one  mile  long,  so  that  it  is  really  a 
question  at  each  point  of  driving  a mile  of  tunnel.  More  than  that 
has  been  done  in  Virginia,  and  can  be  done  again. 

“As  to  the  feasibility  of  the  dam  across  Greenbrier  river,  I sup- 
pose no  one  will  hold  that  to  be  either  impracticable  or  even  a diffi- 
cult operation.” 

Financial  Promise  of  the  Work. 

With  reference  to  the  financial  promise  of  this  line  of  naviga- 
tion, Mr.  Lorraine  presents  the  following  estimates: 


Capital  invested  in  new  works,  say $40,000,000 

“ “ “ old  “ “ 4,926,664 

Preferred  six  per  cent,  stock  of  the  state 7,400,000 


Total  capital  invested $52,326,664 

PROBABLE  REVENUES. 

7,000,000  tons  through  freight,  485  miles  @ 2 mills  per  ton  per  mile $6,790,000 

100.000  “ way  “ , say  50  miles  @ 1 cent  per  ton  per  mile 50,000 

200.000  “ to  and  from  Lynchburg,  146  miles  @ f cent  per  ton  per  mile,  219,000 

100.000  “ to  and  from  Buchanan  and  Lexington,  196  miles  @ J cent 

per  ton  per  mile . 98,000 

200.000  tons  to  and  from  Covington,  243  miles  @ 4 mills  per  ton  per  mile,  194,400 

300.000  “ coal  from  Kanawha  valley  to  Lynchburg,  and  to  iron  fur- 
naces on  line  of  canal,  250  miles  @ 2.5  mills  per  ton  per  mile 187,500 

200.000  tons  coal  from  Kanawha  valley  to  Richmond,  400  miles  @ 2 mills 

per  ton  per  mile 160,000 

500.000  tons  coal  from  Kanawha  valley  to  New  York  and  other  eastern 

cities  via  Richmond,  400  miles  @ 2 mills  per  ton  per  mile 400,000 

Revenue  from  tonnage  of  Kanawha  westward 400,000 

Revenue  from  Richmond  dock 400,000 

Revenue  from  water  rents 30,000 

Revenue  from  boats  and  passengers 100,000 


$9,028,900 

Expenses  of  repairs  and  administration  $750  per  mile 363,750 


Nett  revenue $8,665,150 


Which  is  more  than  16  per  cent,  on  a capital  of $53,000,000 


29 


It  is  legitimate  to  conclude  that  this  work,  which  will  be  open 
for  business  throughout  almost  the  whole  year,  will  compare  favor- 
ably in  its  financial  results  with  the  Erie  canal. 

The  entire  cost  of  constructing  the  Erie  canal  to  1863,  was 
$38,977,831  (nearly  thirty-nine  millions.)  This  sum  with  interest 
to  1863  amounted  to  $52,491,915.  During  the  same  period,  the 
gross  receipts  from  tolls  were  $71,783,676  (nearly  seventy-two  mil- 
lions.) After  deducting  expenses  ($12,518,860)  there  remained  a 
net  profit  of  $59,264,812,  not  only  sufficient  to  pay  the  entire  cost 
of  construction  with  interest,  but  leaving  a surplus  of  nearly  seven 
millions  of  dollars.  Of  the  gross  earnings  it  appears  that  but  little 
more  than  one-sixth  was  required  to  meet  expenses  and  repairs. 
Five-sixths  were  net  gain.  This  included  not  only  the  p^  riod  after 
, the  enlargement,  but  before,  when  the  canal  was  in  an  unfinished 
condition,  with  cost  of  repairs  greater  and  receipts  less.  Since 
1862,  the  net  earnings  have  been  about  twenty  millions  of  dollars 
more.  From  1862  to  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  1868,  the  amount 
of  tolls  paid  to  the  state  was  $25,260,384.  ISTo  other  improvement, 
railroad  or  other,  can  make  such  an  exhibit.  The  Erie  canal  has 
not  only  paid  for  its  own  construction,  but  makes  itself  a present 
to  the  state,  with  about  $27,000,000  of  net  profit. 

Freedom  of  the  Virginia  Water  Line  from  Ice. 

) Accurate  memoranda  have  been  kept  of  the  number  of  days 

during  which  the  Virginia  canal  has  been  closed  by  ice  for  twenty 
years  past,  and  the  grand  aggregate  for  the  whole  period  has  been 
only  302  days,  or  an  average  of  15  days  each  year.  During  ten  of 
these  years  there  was  no  closure  by  freezing.  But  the  closure  during 
any  one  season  is  never  continuous,  being  broken  by  intervals  of 
thaw.  The  ice  during  these  freezings  is  scarcely  ever  so  thick 
that  it  cannot  be  readily  broken  by  ice-boats.  These  freezings, 
therefore,  can  never  operate  seriously  to  put  a stop  to  navigation. 
Boats  may  continue  to  run  throughout  the  season  without  appre- 
hension of  any  longer  detention  at  any  one  time  than  a few  days. 

The  reports  alluded  to,  of  the  number  of  days  of  closing  by  ice, 
refer  to  the  mountain  portion  of  the  Virginia  canal;  to  wit,  the 
portion  which  passes  through  the  Blue  Ridge. 

The  summit  section,  being  a tunnel,  will  never  freeze.  The 
, unvarying  temperature  of  the  tunnel  through  the  Hoosac  moun- 
tain, in  the  high  latitude  of  Massachusetts,  is  52°  the  year  round'. 
The  temperature  of  the  proposed  tunnel  through  the  Alleghany 
mountains  for  the  summit  level,  will  probably  not  be  lower  than 
* that  of  the  Hoosac  tunnel. 

The  elevation  of  the  former  tunnel  is  only  1700  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  it  is  more  than  three  degrees  of  latitude  to  the 
south  of  the  Hoosac. 


30 

Danger  from  floods  of  the  Mountain  sections  of  the  Canal. 

It  is  popularly  supposed  that  canals  through  mountain  sections 
of  country  are  exceedingly  liable  to  injury  from  floods.  Experience 
seems  to  teach,  however,  that  this  is  an  unfounded  apprehen- 
sion. From  the  letter  of  Mr.  Lorraine  on  this  subject  accompany- 
ing this  report,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  mountain  sections  of  the 
James  River  and  Kanawha  canal  have  suffered  no  more  from  this 
cause  than  the  sections  in  the  low  country,  and  that  the  cost  of  an- 
nual repairs  on  the  mountain  sections  is  no  greater.  Reference  is 
made  to  Mr.  Lorraine’s  letter  appended  to  this  report  for  valuable 
and  interesting  information  on  this  subject. 

Relative  cost  of  Road  and  Water  Transportation. 

The  most  important  element  entering  into  the  question  of  an 
additional  canal,  constructed  as  proposed,  on  the  most  direct  and 
central  route  of  the  continent  from  the  centre  of  the  interior  field 
of  production  to  the  central  shipping  port  of  the  seaboard,  is  the 
subject  of  the  relative  cheapness  of  carraige  over  long  distances  by 
water  and  by  rail.  Mr.  Lorraine,  adopting  the  conclusions  of  Mr. 
McAlpine  of  New  York,  presents  the  following  table  as  indicating 
the  cost  of  carrying  produce  over  different  sorts  of  route : 


Ocean — Transportation,  average 1.5  mills. 

Lakes — Long 2 0 mills. 

Short 3.4  mills. 

Rivers — Hudson  and  of  similar  character 2.5  mills. 

Mississippi  and  Ohio 3.0  mills. 

Canal — Erie  enlargement 4.0  mills. 

Ordinary  size 5.0  mills. 

Railroads — Average 15.0  mills. 


Over  common  roads  wheat  cannot  go  to  market  over  a greater 
distance  than  250  miles,  nor  corn  farther  than  125.  But  if  rail- 
roads can  carry  produce  at  as  low  a rate  as  one  and  a quarter  cents 
per  ton  per  ifiile,  the  radii  within  which  corn  and  wheat  can  be 
carried  by  them  to  market  is  increased  respectively  to  1600  and 
3200  miles. 

But  if  we  assume  five  mills  as  the  cost  of  freight  on  canal  and  river 
navigation  (which  is  higher  than  necessary),  then  wheat  may  be 
brought  from  a distance  of  6000  miles,  still  leaving  60  cents  a 
bushel  to  the  farmer,  and  corn  from  points  3000  miles  from  mar- 
ket, leaving  the  cost  of  production  to  the  grower.  Upon  the  scale 
of  charges  indicated  in  the  statement  which  we  have  given  above, 
Mr.  Lorraine  has  computed  the  following  table,  shewing  the  saving 
in  the  cost  of  transportation  which  would  result  to  the  West  from 
the  construction  of  the  Virginia  water  line. 

It  is  not  contended  that  these  tables  show  actual  costs.  They 
only  show  the  result  of  applying  the  average  rates,  drawn  from  a 
great  multitude  of  transactions,  to  the  distances  respectively  indi- 
cated. 


31 


ROUTES. 

Distance. 

Cost  per  ton. 

— — — - i 

Distance  in  favor  of 

Virginia  Water-  | 

line. 

D i s t ance  against  I 
Virginia  Water- 1 
. line. 

1 Cost  in  favor  of 

Virginia  Water- 
1 line.  H 

$ 

c. 

$ 

c. 

Dubuque  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water-line 

1,977 

6 

52 

1,145 

17 

17 

832 

10 

65 

Do.  to  New  York  by  Chicago,  lakes  and  Erie  canal 

1,731 

6 

88 

246 

36 

Do.  to  do.  by  Toledo,  do.  do.  do.  do. 

1,185 

9 

22 

792 

2 

70 

Do.  to  do.  by  Mississippi  and  ocean 

3,515 

7 

86 

1,538 

1 

34 

St.  Louis  to  Hampton  roads  by  Virginia  water-line 

1,513 

5 

13 

Do.  to  New  York  by  Illinois  and  Michigan  and 

Erie  canals 

1,960 

5 

89 

447 

76 

St.  Louis  to  New  York  by  Portsmouth,  Ohio  and  Erie 

1,813 

6 

70 

300 

1 

57 

St.  Louis  to  New  York  by  Mississippi  river  and  ocean, 

3,051 

6 

47 

1 

34 

Louisville  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water-line... 

949 

3 

44 

Do.  to  New  York  by  Portsmouth,  Ohio  and  Erie 

canals 

1,249 

5 

01 

300 

1 

57 

Evansville  to  Hampton  roads  by  Virginia  water-line.... 

1,140 

4 

01 

Do.  to  New  York  by  Wabash  and  Erie  canals... 

1,220 

5 

07 

80 

1 

06 

Cincinnati  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water-line... 

816 

3 

04 

Do.  to  New  York  by  Portsmouth,  Ohio  and  Erie 

canals 

1,116 

4 

61 

300 

1 

57 

Cincinnati  to  New  York  by  Miami  and  Erie  canals 

1,019 

4 

07 

203 

1 

03 

Do.  to  New  York  by  Mississippi  river  and  ocean, 

3,398 

7 

51 

2,582 

4 

47 

Wheeling  to  Baltimore  by  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad, 

380 

5 

70 

Do.  to  Hampton  Roads  by  Virginia  water-line.... 

787 

2 

95 

407 

2 

75 

St.  Louis  to  Liverpool  by  New  Orleans 

6,529 

11 

69 

Do.  to  do.  by  Virginia  water-line 

5,223 

10 

79 

1,306 

90 

Cincinnati  to  do.  by  New  Orleans 

6,876 

12 

73 

Do.  to  do.  by  Virginia  water-line 

4,526 

8 

70 

2,350 

4 

03 

Louisville  to  do.  by  New  Orleans 

6,743 

12 

33 

Do.  to  do.  by  Virginia  water-line 

4,659 

956 

9 

10 

1,863 

3 

23 

Memphis  to  Norfolk  by  railroad 

14 

34 

Do.  to  do.  by  Virginia  water  line 1 

1,583 

5 

34 

627 

9 

00 

32 


The  cost  of  transportation  is  a loss  in  the  value  of  the  product 
of  the  industry  of  the  country,  whether  agricultural,  mineral  or 
manufacturing,  except  to  the  extent  of  the  clear  profit  to  the  car- 
riers, and  it  diminishes  the  value  at  home  of  every  thing  which 
will  not  bear  transportation  in  the  same  proportion.  This  loss  and 
this  diminution  is  measured  by  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  annu- 
ally. There  is  a point  beyond  which  the  necessary  charges  of  rail- 
road transportation  in  conveying  heavy  freight  from  the  place  of 
production  to  the  place  of  consumption  leave  no  profit  to  the  pro- 
ducer, and  thus  check  both  production  and  consumption.  From 
Dubuque,  only  188  miles  by  railroad  west  of  Chicago,  the  charges, 
when  the  water  line  through  the  lakes  and  Erie  canal  is  closed, 
usually  average  per  ton  for  fourth  class  freight  (which  pays  least) 
to  New  York,  $23,  or  at  the  rate  of  69  cents  on  a bushel  of  Wheat; 
for  first,  second  and  third  classes  they  range  from  $31  to  $49  per 
ton.  When  wheat  is  worth  there  about  $1  per  bushel,  it  costs 
about  70  per  cent,  of  its  value  to  carry  it  to  market.  From  100 
miles  in  the  interior  of  Iowa,  the  farmer  who  has  1,000  bushels  of 
wheat  has  to  give  500  bushels  to  carry  the  other  500  bushels  to  the 
Atlantic  market.  On  all  other  cereals,  the  percentage  on  the  value 
paid  for  transportation  is  still  greater. 

West  of  the  Missouri  river  from  Sioux  city,  Omaha,  Leaven- 
worth and  Kansas  city,  there  is  a country  extending  for  hundreds 
of  miles  still  farther  from  the  Atlantic,  with  immense  capacity  for 
the  production  of  wheat  and  corn,  beef  and  pork,  which  must  re- 
main valueless  as  a grain  producing  region,  though  of  almost 
boundless  capacity  for  the  smaller  cereals,  unless  a less  costly 
means  of  sending  its  produce  to  market  be  furnished,  than  by  rail- 
road, or  even  by  railroad  and  the  lakes.  Nor  are  the  railroad 
charges  necessarily  extortionate;  they  are  much  lower  than  the 
average  of  charges,  and  from  the  far  West  often  lower  than  the 
roads  cau  carry  at  with  profit. 

The  two  great  railroads  of  New  York,  the  Erie  and  the  New 
York  Central,  struggling  as  they  have  been,  in  competition  with 
each  other,  and  trying  even  to  compete  with  the  Erie  canal,  ought 
to  be  regarded  as  able  to  carry  freight  on  as  favorable  terms  as  any 
other  lines  for  transportation  of  ordinary  produce  freight  and  mer- 
chandize, and  which  are  also  used  as  lines  of  travel.  Loads  con- 
structed as  coal  roads,  with  grades  and  curves  to  suit  an  immense 
freight,  may,  and  in  some  instances  do,  carry  at  a lower  rate.  But 
these  latter  bear  no  resemblance  to  the  nature  of  structure  and  ope- 
rating expenses  of  such  lines  as  must  be  relied  on  for  conducting 
the  freight  and  passenger  business  between  the  Atlantic  and  the 
West. 

Taking  the  two  principal  New  York  roads  then  as  an  average  of 
what  such  roads  can  do,  their  reports  for  the  year  1866  show  that 
the  rates  per  ton  per  mile  for  that  year  were  as  follows:  New  York 
Central  2.92  cents,  or  for  the  whole  distance  of  440  miles  from 
Buffalo  to  New  York,  the  sum  of  $12  85,  or  at  the  rate  of  35.6 


33 


cents  for  a bushel  of  wheat.  Erie  Railroad  2.45  cents,  or  for  the 
whole  distance  from  Erie  to  New  York  of  460  miles  $11  27,  or  • 
for  a bushel  of  wheat  34.4  cents. 

Official  reports  for  1868  show  that  the  average  charges  for  trans- 
portation on  the  New  York  roads  for  that  year  were  a fraction 
**  over  2J  cents  per  ton  per  mile.  These  charges  will  average  from 
the  Mississippi  about  $24  a ton,  or  about  72  cents  for  a bushel  of 
wheat.  There  may  be  exceptional  cases,  under  peculiar  circum- 
stances, where  the  charges  maybe  temporarily  somewhat  lower; 
but  they  oftener  exceed  than  fall  short  of  that  amount. 

During  the  season  of  navigation  with  railroad  transportation 
only  to  the  lakes,  these  charges  could  be  considerably  reduced,  and 
are  much  lower  when  there  is  not  a pressure  upon  the  tonnage  ca- 
pacity of  the  lake  vessels  and  of  the  Erie  canal. 

During  the  earlier  part  of  the  navigation  season,  especially  du- 
ring summer,  the  charges  from  Chicago  to  Buffalo  range  from 
about  5 to  10  cents  per  bushel  on  wheat,  and  from  Buffalo  to  New 
York,  through  the  canal,  from  about  11  to  14  cents,  tolls  included; 
while  during  September,  October  and  November,  when  the  bulk 
of  the  western  crop  is  seeking  a market,  the  charges  go  up  from 
10  to  over  26  cents  from  Chicago  to  Buffalo,  and  from  Buffalo  to  New 
York  from  14  to  as  high  as  30  cents  per  bushel,  averaging  more  than 
double  the  rates  at  which  freight  can  be  carried,  and  is  carried 
when  there  is  no  pressure  upon  the  shipping  of  the  lakes  and  upon 
the  canal.  These  charges  are  of  course  increased  or  diminished  in 
like  proportion  as  to  all  other  freights. 

The  effort  to  escape  still  higher  charges  by  railroad,  presses  the 
products  of  the  West  upon  the  water  line,  and  thus  enables  the 
carriers,  whether  by  lake  or  canal,  to  increase  their  charges,  and 
the  canal  company  is  also  thus  enabled  to  increase  its  rate  of  tolls; 
of  which  advantage  both  carrier  and  canal  company  are  not  slow 
to  avail  themselves. 

With  the  increasing  products  of  the  West  and  Northwest,  this 
evil  will  ^continue  to  increase.  Even  the  advantage  of  a water 
line  connecting  the  upper  Mississippi  with  the  lakes,  and  thereby 
cheapening  the  transportation  to  one-third  the  present  charges  for 
that  portion  of  the  route,  will  be  to  a great  extent  neutralized  by  the 
increased  pressure,  and  consequently  higher  charges  from  the  lakes 
inward  unless  the  pressure  is  relieved  and  held  in  check  by  the 
competition  of  other  cheap  and  continuous  water  lines  of  transpor- 
1 tation. 

Relation  of  the  Work  to  Coal  supply. 

i It  is  well  known  to  geological  men  that  the  veins  of  bituminous 

coal  which  pervade  the  entire  western  slope  of  the  Appelachian 
chain  of  mountains,  have  their  maximum  aggregate  thickness  in  the 
Kanawha  valley  and  in  the  adjacent  regions  of  West  Virginia, 
Kentucky  and  Ohio. 

The  coals  of  these  regions  are  now  shipped  around  by  way  of 


34 


New  Orleans  and  the  gulf  to  New  York,  at  a profit  to  the  miner 
•and  dealer.  The  quality  of  this  cannel  coal  is  equal  to  that  of 
the  coals  of  England  and  Nova  Scotia  imported  into  New  York. 
It  has  become  important  to  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  sea- 
board cities  to  obtain  adequate  supplies  of  the  best  qualities  of  bitu- 
minous coals  from  shorter  distances  than  those  from  which  they 
are  now  derived,  and  at  cheaper  rates.  The  most  intelligent  manu- 
facturers and  dealers  in  coal,  of  New  York  and  the  eastern  cities, 
recognize  the  necessity  of  a resort  to  the  cannel  and  bituminous 
coals  of  the  Kanawha,  Coal,  Guyandotte  and  Sandy  rivers  for  fuel; 
a fact  which  is  fully  established  by  the  shipments  that  are  now 
making  of  the  coals  of  that  region  by  the  roundabout  route  of 
New  Orleans  to  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

The  opening  of  the  Virginia  canal  will  settle  the  question  of  an 
adequate  coal  supply  for  the  eastern  cities,  and  relieve  the  apprehen- 
sion and  scarcity  now  felt  by  eastern  manufacturers  on  that  vital 
subject.  Valuable  as  this  water  line  will  be  to  the  West  as  shown  in 
these  pages,  its  importance  is  doubled  by  the  fact  that  the  work  is 
vital  to  the  success  of  the  manufacturing  system  of  the  east,  as  a 
means  of  supplying  the  best  bituminous  coals  of  the  continent 
from  the  nearest  mines  by  the  most  direct  navigation  and  at  the 
cheapest  rates. 

THE  THIRD  RESOLUTION. 

III.  Your  committee  approve  the  third  resolution  submitted  for 
their  consideration,  which  declares  that  this  work,  being  of  great 
national  importance,  is  “entitled  to  receive  such  aid  from  the  na- 
tional government  as  will  secure  its  completion  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible period.  ” 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  American  statesmen  of  a former 
generation  said,  twenty-five  years  ago: 

“The  invention  of  Fulton  has,  in  reality  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses converted  the  Missisippi,  with  all  its  great  tributaries,  into 
an  inland  sea.  Regarding  it  as  such,  I am  prepared  to  place  it  on 
the  same  footing  with  the  gulf  and  Atlantic  coasts,  the  Chesapeake 
and  Delaware  bays,  and  the  lakes,  in  reference  to  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  general  government  over  its  navigation.  It  is  manifest 
that  it  is  far  beyond  the  power  of  individuals  or  of  separate  states 
to  supervise  it,  as  there  are  eighteen  states  including  Texas  and 
the  territories — more  than  half  the  Union — which  lie  within  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  or  border  on  its  navigable  tributaries.” 

Claims  of  the  great  communities , interested  in  cheap  freights  and  cheap 
food , upon  government  for  aid  to  this  national  work. 

If  the  work  under  discussion  be  necessary  to  the  accomplishment 
of  the  two  great  objects,  of  affording  adequate  means  of  outlet  to 
market  for  the  products  of  the  interior,  and  supplying  cheap  food 
to  the  populations  of  the  Atlantic  states;  if,  moreover,  this  work 


be  a necessary  supplement  to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
river  and  its  tributaries;  then,  all  that  is  predicated  as  to  the 
duty  of  the  government  with  reference  to  the  western  rivers,  is 
true  with  reference  to  the  proposed  outlet  of  their  navigation, 
by  the  shortest  and  most  central  line  to  the  ocean.  And,  when  we 
consider  that  in  time  of  war*  both  of  the  other  existing  routes  of 
water  transportation  between  the  interior  and  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board, are  liable  to  complete  interruption,  leaving  the  West  glutted 
with  vast  stores  of  surplus  food,  and  the  east  suffering  from  the 
want  of  it — the  failure  of  government  to  provide  an  outlet  of  interior 
navigation,  on  the  most  direct  and  central  route  from  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  ocean,  safe  from  hostile  assault  or  threat,  assumes  a se- 
rious aspect.  We  come  on  reflection  to  regard  the  provision  of 
such  an  outlet  as  an  urgent  duty  of  government,  and  to  look  upon 
the  neglect  to  provide  one,  as  a grave  dereliction. 

Commodore  Maury  makes  the  following  cogent  reflections  upon 
this  subject: 

44  In  case  of  a war,  in  which  Canada  should  become  the  seat,  the 
farmers  of  the  West  may  well  ask  the  question,  what  would  be- 
come of  them?  The  lakes  would  be  impassable  to  vessels  of  com- 
merce, and  their  produce,  as  recent  experience  has  abundantly 
taught  them,  could  not  afford  to  pay  railway  freights  and  monopo- 
lies that  Eastern  combinations  would  be  sure  to  exact. 

“ The  only  inland  water  line  by  which  the  Mississippi  valley  can 
be  connected  with  the  ocean,  so  as  to  have  at  all  times,  and  under 
all  circumstances,  in  peace  and  in  war,  a convenient  and  unmolested 
highway  to  the  Atlantic  sea-front,  leads  through  Virginia.  The 
Alleghany  mountains  afford  no  passes  for  such  to  the  north  of  us, 
and,  until  the  country  avails  itself  of  these,  there  is  no  protection 
in  war  for  western  commerce,  and  farmers  there  must  console  them- 
selves as  best  they  may,  under  the  humiliating  reflection  that  they 
are  cut  off*  with  their  produce  from  commercial  intercourse  with 
the  great  markets  of  their  country,  from  the  metropolis  of  the  na- 
tion, and  from  the  highway  of  nations:  that  if  they  go  by  lake  or 
gulf,  the  wTay  is  not  their  own,  but  such  as  others  may  overlook, 
and,  at  pleasure,  dispute  and  endanger,  if  not  forbid.  Whereas, 
their  rights  through  Virginia  none  can  dispute,  and  the  way  is 
wholly  their  own,  and  as  safe  and  secure  in  war  as  in  peace. 

“ In  short,  considering  that  the  expenses  via  Hew  Orleans  and 
the  Florida  Pass  are,  in  a great  measure,  prohibitory  to  north-west- 
ern breadstuffs,  and  that  the  Erie  canal  has  not  the  capacity  to  pass 
more  of  western  produce  than  it  is  now  doing,  and  that  this  pro- 
duce cannot  stand  the  charges  of  railway  transportation  from  its 
place  of  production  to  Hew  York,  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore,  it 
is  clear  that  western  farmers  can  contribute  but  little  more  to  the  ex- 
ports of  the  country  until  a new  way  to  the  sea  has  been  opened  for 
them.  Until  this  be  granted  them,  the  commerce  of  that  portion 
of  the  country  cannot  expand  proportionally  with  the  growth  of  the 
West.” 


36 

Recommendations  of  the  Committee . 

Your  committee  find  that  the  present  works  of  the  James  River 
and  Kanawha  Company  furnish  a basis  of  credit  to  the  amount  of 
$10,000,000,  free  from  encumbrance,  except  a mortgage  securing  a 
debt  (not  all  issued)  of  $750,000.  The  further  sum  of  $40,000,000 
will  be  required  for  enlarging  present  works,  and  completing  the 
remainder  of  the  line  to  the  Ohio  river.  The  whole  work  can  be 
executed  in  the  period  of  four  years.  The  expenditure  will  there- 
fore be  made  nearly  at  the  rate  of  $10,000,000  a year,  during  which 
period  the  earnings  of  the  line  pay  but  a small  portion  of  the  inte- 
rest on  the  outlay.  The  maximum  of  interest  which  will  thus  be 
paid,  while  the  work  is  under  construction,  may  reach  six  millions 
of  dollars;  so  that  a lien  taken  upon  the  present  works  of  the  com- 
pany, worth  ten  millions,  and  upon  the  property  of  the  entire  line, 
will  secure  the  advance  of  six  millions  required  for  interest,  and 
for  the  bonds  which  may  be  used  in  providing  the  means  of  paying 
for  construction. 

It  will  have  been  seen  that  the  state  of  Virginia,  the  cities  of 
Richmond  and  Lynchburg,  and  Washington  College,  own  together 
110,541  shares  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  James  River  and  Kana- 
wha Company  ; while  only  13,459  shares  are  owned  by  private  in- 
dividuals; the  State  herself  owning  104,000  shares,  or  more  than 
four-fifths  of  the  stock.  The  national  government,  therefore,  iu 
dealing  with  this  company,  would  practically  be  dealing  with  the 
State  herself. 

As  shown  by  the  estimates  of  the  engineer,  the  net  annual  in- 
come expected  from  the  line,  when  completed,  will  be  $8,665,150. 
If  we  deduct  one-fourth  of  this  amount  for  errors  and  contingen- 
cies, there  will  remain  $6,500,000.  The  interest  on  $40,000,000 
will  be  $2,400,000.  The  net  income  will  therefore  pay  the  interest 
on  the  bonded  debt,  and  produce  a balance,  clear  of  charges,  of 
$4,100,000,  which  may  be  used  as  a sinking  fund  for  the  liquidation 
of  the  debt  in  ten  years.  Actual  results  attending  the  operation  of 
the  Erie  canal  sustain  the  validity  of  these  calculations,  and  justify 
your  committee  in  the  recommendations  they  submit.  . 

With  the  foregoing  statements  as  to  the  commerce  of  the  inland 
states,  which  have  been  carefully  and  considerately  prepared,  and 
as  to  existing  and  contemplated  means  for  transporting  the  mate- 
rials of  that  commerce,  your  committee  come  to  the  following  con- 
clusions: 

That  cheap  transportation  for  the  products  of  the  interior  of  the 
country  is  not  only  a necessity,  but  is  demanded  by  the  highest 
considerations  of  public  policy. 

That  to  secure  it,  additional  direct  and  continuous  lines  of  water 
communication  are  imperatively  needed,  and  should  be  provided  be- 
tween the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Atlantic  seaboard — not  only  as 
a means  of  freightage,  but  in  order  that  requisite  competition  may 
be  maintained  between  transportation  lines. 


37 


That  as  one  of  these  means  of  water  communication,  the  route 
to  be  afforded  by  the  James  River  and  Kanawha  canal,  if  extended 
to  the  Ohio  river  as  proposed,  has  special  prominence. 

That  the  work  necessary  for  the  completion  of  this  canal  on  the 
scale  deemed  essential  for  its  great  objects  is  demonstrated  by  emi- 
nent engineers  to  be  practicable  of  early  completion  and  feasible. 

That  such  a work  would  be  national  in  its  character  and  entitled 
to  receive  national  aid  to  secure  its  completion  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible period. 

That  in  order  that  it  shall  enure  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
country  all  private  and  corporate  proprietorship  in  it  should  be  re- 
moved (which  removal  should  be  a condition  precedent  to  the  grant 
of  aid  by  the  general  government),  and  when  the  cost  of  construc- 
tion as  represented  by  the  outlay  of  the  state  of  Virginia  and  of  the 
nation  shall  be  fully  reimbursed,  that  the  commerce  conducted  on 
the  canal  shall  be  subjected  only  to  such  tolls  as  may  be  necessary 
for  its  repair. 

As  embodying  these  conclusions,  it  is  respectfully  recommended 
that  the  executive  council  of  the  National  Board  of  Trade  be  di- 
rected to  memorialize  the  congress  of  the  United  States  in  refer- 
ence to  the  subject  of  extending  aid  to  the  James  river  and  Kanawha 
canal  project,  as  herein  set  forth,  praying  its  consideration  at  an 
early  day. 

\ J.  J.  PORTER,  Chairman , 

Louisville . 

JNO.  A.  GANO, 

Cincinnati. 

I.  Y.  MUNN, 

Chicago. 

THOS.  M.  MONROE, 

k Dubuque. 

R.  TOPP, 

Memphis. 

J.  P.  WETHERILL, 

* Philadelphia. 

R.  W.  HUGHES, 

7 Norfolk . 

CHAS.  S.  CARRINGTON, 

Richmond . 


■ 

* tib 

... 

l > i n n « 9,h  ff  i i&ijftfii&tteg 

' 

' 

. 

' 


• ‘ 

. 

. 


/ 


39 


Office  of  the  James  River  & Kanawha  Co. 
Richmond , February  5,  1869. 


R.  W.  Hughes,  Esq., 

Chairman  Sub-committee  to  draft  report : 

Dear  Sir: — At  your  request  I offer  the  following  facts  in 
answer  to  the  objections  made  to  canals  in  mountain  districts. 

It  is  granted  that  a canal  in  a mountain  country  is,  on  account 
of  the  lockage,  less  profitable  than  one  on  a level  plane,  exactly  as 
a railroad  with  high  grades  and  sharp  curves  is  less  profitable  than 
one  with  low  grades  and  easy  curves;  but  it  is  denied  that  there  is 
anything  inherent  in  mountain  countries  to  render  the  construction 
or  maintenance  of  canals  impracticable  or  unprofitable,  any  more 
than  railroads  or  common  roads. 

The  main  objections  that  have  been  urged  against  mountain 
canals  are,  that  the  works  are  injured  or  destroyed,  and  the  prism 
of  the  canal  filled  up  by  the  mountain  torrents  falling  into  them, 
and  especially  on  Lock  and  Dam  improvements  that  the  dams  are 
■j  broken  and  swept  away  by  the  sudden  incursions  of  high  water, 
subjecting  the  navigation  to  frequent  interruptions  and  long  delays. 

To  meet  these  objections  it  is  not  necessary  to  refer  to  canals  in 
foreign  countries  or  in  other  states,  they  can  be  best  answered  by 
an  appeal  to  the  history  and  condition  of  the  James  River  and 
Kanawha  canal;  and  as  the  objections  were  made  mainfy  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  continuation  of  that  canal,  it  appears  to  be  eminently 
fit  that  it  should  appear  in  its  own  defence,  and  appeal  to  the  facts 
in  its  own  history  in  contradiction  of  any  statements  injuriously 
affecting  its  future  career. 

The  James  river  canal  commences  at  Richmond  and  extends  to 
Lynchburg,  a distance  of  146J  miles,  the  lockage  in  this  distance 
is  429  feet,  or  nearly  3|  feet  to  the  mile.  At  Lynchburg  it  may  be 
said  to  enter  the  mountain  district  of  the  state,  and  24  miles  above 
Lynchburg  it  arrives  at  the  base  of  the  Blue  Ridge  mountain, 
passes  in  a distance  of  4|  miles  through  the  backbone  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  and  then  through  what  is  called  the  Valley  of  Virginia  to 
Buchanan.  The  whole  distance  from  Lynchburg  to  Buchanan  is 
50  miles,  and  the  lockage  between  those  points  is  299  feet,  or  about 
s six  feet  per  mile.  Twenty-two  miles  is  canal,  and  twenty-eight 
miles  is  lock  and  dam  navigation.  At  the  mouth  of  North  river, 
28  miles  above  Lynchburg,  there  is  a lateral  canal  extending  along 
the  margin  of  North  river  to  Lexington  a distance  of  19f  miles, 
10  miles  of  which  is  canal,  and  9f  miles  is  slack  water  navigation, 
the  total  lockage  being  188  feet  or  9£  feet  to  the  mile. 


40 


Between  Lynchburg  and  Buchanan  there  are  four  stone  dams 
and  seven  timber  dams.  On  the  North  river  improvement  there 
are  nine  stone  dams  and  one  timber  dam. 

Where  the  canal  passes  through  the  Blue  Bidge  mountain  there 
is  in  a distance  of  4J  miles  a lockage  of  60J  feet,  or  an  ascent  of 
13T308o  feet  per  mile. 

The  canal  from  Lynchburg  to  Buchanan  was  completed  in  1850, 
and  has  been  in  operation  18  years.  During  that  time  there  have 
been  many  and  very  high  freshes,  and  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that 
considerable  damage  has  been  inflicted;  a part  of  the  top  of  two 
of  the  dams  has  been  swept  away  and  a large  breach  occurred 
around  the  abutment  of  another,  and  two  large  breaches  have  oc- 
curred in  the  guard  bank  of  another.  But  there  was  no  necessity 
that  any  of  these  disasters  should  have  occurred;  they  were  not 
the  consequences  of  the  character  of  the  country,  because  nearly 
as  many  and  similar  accidents  have  happened  on  the  first  division, 
but  of  errors  in  the  location  and  construction  of  the  work,  errors 
which  experience  would  have  avoided,  and  which  will  not  be  likely 
to  occur  again.  But  the  most  remarkable  fact  in  this  connection  is, 
that  the  portion  of  the  canal  which  passes  through  the  heart  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  is  the  very  part  that  has  been  most  exempt  from  injury, 
and  has  cost  less  for  its  maintenance  and  repair,  in  proportion  to 
its  lockage,  thart  any  other  part  of  the  line.  One  reason  of  this  is 
that  it  passes  through  an  uncultivated  section  of  country,  and  there- 
fore there  is  but  little  deposit  washed  into  the  canal  from  the  sides 
of  the  mountain,  or  by  the  small  streams  that  empty  in  it. 

On  the  North  river  improvement,  which  traverses  along  the  west- 
ern base  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  where  the  fall  is  9J  feet  to  the  mile, 
and  where  there  is  a dam  for  every  two  miles,  no  accident  has  ever 
happened  to  a dam  from  high  water.  One  dam  has  partially  failed, 
from  having  been  built  on  an  insecure  foundation,  This  portion 
of  the  improvement  was  constructed  with  inadequate  funds,  and 
consequently  the  work  was  of  an  inferior  description.  The  dams 
were  built  of  rubble  masonry  and  without  cement,  nevertheless, 
with  the  exception  mentioned  above,  they  have  stood  well  and  have 
suffered  no  injury  from  the  frequent  high  freshes  to  which  they 
have  been  subjected. 

A pretty  good  test  of  the  comparative  stability  of  mountain  ca- 
nals may  be  made  by  a comparison  of  the  cost  of  repairs  of  the 
1st  and  2nd  divisions  of  the  canal  as  shown  iu  the  following  tables, 
ranging  from  1851  to  1868  inclusive. 


Cost  of  Repairs  of  J.  R.  & K.  Canal  for  18  years,  from  1851  to  1868. 


Length 

miles. 

Lockage 

feet. 

Total  Cost 
for  18  years. 

Average  Cost 
per  annum. 

Cost  per  mile 
per  annum. 

1st  Division — Piedmont, 

146 M 

429 

$1,819,589 

$101,088  00 

$690  00 

2nd  Division — Mountain, 

50 

299 

726,871 

40,382 

807  00 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  table  that  the  cost  of  repairs  of 


41 


the  2nd  or  mountain  Division  of  the  canal  was  about  17  per  cent, 
more  than  that  of  the  first  or  Piedmont  Division,  which  may  readily 
be  accounted  for  by  the  increased  number  of  mechanical  structures 
on  the  mountain  division,  there  being  on  the  first  division  a lock 
for  every  2§  miles,  and  a dam  for  every  16  miles,  while  on  the 
second  division  there  is  a lock  for  every  1TS0  miles  and  a dam  for 
every  3|  miles. 

But  if  we  include  the  North  river  improvement  the  comparison 
is  still  more  favorable  for  the  mountain  division  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  following  table. 

Cost  of  Repairs  of  J.  R.  & K.  Canal  for  8 years , from  1861  to  1868. 


Length 

miles. 

Lockage 

feet. 

Total  Cost 
for  8 years. 

Average  Cost 
per  annum. 

Cost  per  mile 
per  annum. 

1st  Division, 

2nd  Division  and  North 

146J4 

429 

$1,111,468 

$138,933 

$948  00 

River  Improvement, 

69%_ 

487 

529,669 

66,208 

949  00* 

It  will  thus  be  seen,  that  for  the  last  eight  years  the  cost  of  re- 
pairs of  the  mountain  division  has  been  about  the  same  per  mile 
as  that  of  the  Piedmont  division,  after  adding  on  to  it  19J  miles 
of  what  may  be  more  strictly  called  mountain  canal  than  any  other 
portion  of  the  line,  a canal  that  has  a lock  for  every  nine-tenths 
of  a mile,  and  a dam  for  every  two  miles,  and  an  average  fall  of 
nine  and  a half  feet  to  the  mile. 

The  stability  of  the  North  river  canal  and  the  small  cost  of  its 
repairs  (only  $356  per  mile  per  annum  for  the  last  8 years),  not- 
withstanding its  imperfect  construction,  is  a standing  reply  to  any 
objections  that  may  be  urged  against  the  improvement  of  the 
Greenbrier  and  New  rivers  by  locks  and  dams.  The  fall  in  the 
Greenbrier  is  6T307o  feet  per  mile,  very  nearly  the  same  as  that  in 
the  James  from  Lynchburg  to  Buchanan;  there  can,  therefore,  be 
hardly  any  reasonable  objection  raised  to  the  improvement  of  that 
river.  The  fall  in  New  river  averages  IO/q  feet  per  mile  or  about 
ten  inches  more  per  mile  than  that  in  North  river.  Is  there  any- 
thing then  in  the  characteristics  of  New  river  to  render  its  im- 
provement impracticable  or  even  formidable?  We  have  seen  that 
the  North  river  with  nearly  as  much  fall,  and  the  James  river 
% through  the  heart  of  the  Blue  Ridge  with  three  feet  more  fall  per 
mile,  have  been  successfully  improved,  and  that  these  portions  of 
the  canal  have  cost  less  to  maintain  them  than  any  other  part  of 
the  canal.  Moreover,  as  already  remarked,  the  character  of  the 
work  on  the  North  river  is  inferior,  the  dams  being  built  of  dry 
rubble  masonry.  It  is  intended  to  construct  the  locks  and  dams 

*The  reason  why  the  average  cost  per  mile  appears  to  be  so  much  greater  du- 
ring the  last  eight  years  is  that  for  four  years,  or  one  half  the  time,  the  cost  is 
computed  in  Confederate  currency.  For  the  same  reason,  though  in  a less  de- 
gree, the  average  annual  cost  of  repairs  in  the  first  table  is  considerably  increased. 
The  average  cost  per  mile  for  the  ten  years  preceding  1861,  was  $483  on  the  1st 
Division,  and  $506  on  the  2nd  Division. 

6 


42 


on  the  New  river  of  the  very  best  description  of  mortared  ma- 
sonry, that  will  defy  the  invasions  of  the  river,  let  it  rage  never  so 
high.  I feel  confident  on  that  score,  from  the  long  experience  that 
I have  had  in  building  dams,  and  from  the  improvements  in  their 
construction  that  have  been  suggested  and  adopted,  after  much  ob- 
servation of  the  causes  of  the  failure  of  some  of  the  stone  dams 
on  James  river.  These  improvements  consist  chiefly  in  varying 
the  proportions  of  the  dams  without  increasing  their  area  of  cross- 
section,  or  in  giving  them  less  thickness  at  the  bottom  and  more  at 
the  top;  giving  a double  slope  to  the  coping,  and  protecting  it  with 
timber  and  plank.  New  dams  recently  constructed  on  these  princi- 
ples, below  the  old  dams,  have,  even  when  unfinished,  stood  such 
tests  as  I am  sure  they  never  could  be  subjected  to  under  any  other 
circumstances. 

New  river  runs  chiefly  through  a wild,  uncultivated  country,  its 
banks  are  rock  bound  and  wooded,  and  consequently  the  ponds 
will  not  be  so  liable  to  be  filled  up  by  deposits  from  the  hill  sides, 
as  they  would  be  if  they  were  bounded  by  cultivated  lands. 

There  need  be  no  apprehension  in  regard  to  the  extraordinary 
height  of  the  freshes  in  New  river,  because,  after  a fresh  has 
passed  a certain  height,  by  the  equalization  of  the  water  above 
and  below  the  dam,  the  danger  begins  to  diminish,  and  there  is 
really  no  more  danger  to  the  dams  in  a very  high  fresh  than  in  one 
of  ordinary  height,  and  the  double  slope  given  to  the  combs  of  the 
dams  will  throw  the  water  in  its  overfall  so  far  from  the  base  as  to 
prevent  any  danger  of  undermining  the  foundations. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  the  work  on  the  Greenbrier  and  New  rivers, 
if  properly  executed,  will  be  the  most  permanent,  and  will  cost 
less  per  mile  to  repair  than  any  other  part  of  the  line,  except  the 
Kanawha  river. 

Very  Respectfully, 

E.  LORRAINE, 

Engineer  £ Superintendent 


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